The Secrets We Keep: Volume One
by TecnoFan34
Summary: Tecna never has mentioned anything about her childhood, and for good reason. Timmy has a huge secret of his own, and Tecna is involved. Follow Tecna at her first year at Alfea, the first year of her freedom, as she discovers challenges beyond anything she could've imagined, and Timmy as he tries to keep his own past a secret from everyone. Based on the RAI English version.
1. An Unexpected Event (Prologue)

**I just decided to do some proof reading, noticing a lot of crammed words together and more repeats of the same thing. I've also added more about Tecna's feelings once she had a chance to rest, just the reality of being free from her abuse. I've also decided to change the name of the General to Tyler instead of Ron, it just sounds better to me.**

 **Winx Club Episode Dialogue (c) Iginio Straffi And Rainbow S.r.l**

* * *

 **The Secrets We Keep: Volume One**

 **By TecnoFan34**

 **Chapter One: An Unexpected Event (Prologue)**

In this magical dimension, there is a realm where technology is so advanced, and the people are more intelligent then anyone ever thought possible, but for me, I don't know just how intelligent a technology fairy like myself is supposed to be. I've been under lock and key for my entire life it's a long story, but now I can finally try to get out of this endless, windowless nightmare. I enrolled in Alfea College for Fairies in Magix with what Headmistress Faragonda said was an outstanding transcript, so apparently I'm more intelligent than I estimated. I'm uncertain about how other types of fairies will treat me. I've heard that some realms actually believe that people from Zenith have artificial brains, or are robots of some sort. That, as far as I know, is not true, there may be robots in this realm, but of course a natural mind has to develop and program them. Oh wow, I'm just as bad for going off on a tangent as an internet search engine that produces random results, I haven't even introduced myself. I am Tecna, I'm sixteen, and in a day's time, I will attend Alfea College for Fairies, only the best and the brightest go there. Although I have grown up in a building supervised by strange men, they say my schooling is impeccable. I suppose it's because I haven't had any official schooling, and all my work is sent to the man who claims me, to give to me to do. I'm known to the outside world as a homeschooler, at least I think that's the term for it. Though, there was something that worried me when Alfea accepted, what could I possibly be worried about? I got into the best magic school in all the realms, after all the torture that I've been through over the years, it would finally be over.

* * *

I sat at my computer, doing research on Magix to see what made the city such a tourist attraction, when my bedroom door unlocked. I jumped to my feet, my heart was racing. This was the most terrifying part of my life, feeling the stabbing pain of a huge needle in my veins, I was that man's lab rat, his guinea pig, and that was my only purpose in life.

"Please, not now." I quivered, I was almost free of the pain, just one more night on that hard bed and I'll be on the bus to Alfea.

"Yes now, you know exactly why we came." One man answered in a monotone voice once they unlocked my bedroom door. I hated their voices; they were so robotic and emotionless, even for my liking. I was too mature to plead, because I knew that no matter what, I was getting injected with that creation. So I just got up from my desk as they grabbed me by the arms and led me out of my plain bedroom. All that it contained was a dresser; rock hard bed and desk where I worked secretly on my inventions, and took apart my electronic devices, that was the the only sense of peace I could get. I had the latest computer, palmtop and my bug scanner, those were the only gadgets at my disposal, and I wish I knew more about how high tech the world outside this building was. There was also a jar of money sitting on my desk - with it, I had already sent Alfea my tuition - all that was left was bus and hotel money, and money for school supplies. With what money I had left, I had to budget very cautiously if I was to have enough for this year, let alone three.

* * *

The two men who came to get me from my bedroom took me to the laboratory. There, the man who legally owned me would wait until I've arrived, preparing the creation he made. I had no idea what it did to me, but it was too painful to be worth investigating.

"Hello, my little microchip." He addressed me as I was being pulled through the doors, I wish he didn't call me that, for two reasons. One, I was sixteen, I wasn't that little anymore, and two, those sorts of nicknames just begged for our people to be treated like machines. But I guess the phrases I use sometimes don't really help either.

"I'm sixteen, not six." I stated as I stared down at the tile floor, not wanting to make eye contact with him.

"I know, but you're still my little pet project." He told me, cupping my chin in his cold, rough hand. I had to at least try and pull my head away, but he made me stare in his heartless steal coloured eyes as he felt my face. I felt so self-conscious around him that I shook a little inside.

"Yes, your skin is so very soft, Have you been using that body wash I made for you?" he asked. Surprisingly it was the only thing he gave me that I actually liked. It smelled like lavender and made my skin silky. Though I don't know why he'd given it to me if he didn't give me anything else I liked... besides my computer that is.

"Yes sir." I replied simply, and the man nodded, his name was Dr. Rick Tonson. He hated emotion; he hated to see it, especially when I displayed it.

"Now I think you know why my men have brought you down here." He responded, unfortunately I did know why he sent his men for me, and I nodded hesitantly, "Perfect, you should know not to fight your purpose, right Tecna."

"Yes sir." I stated once again, and then sat on his lab table slowly.

"What are you waiting for?" he snapped impatiently after a few minutes of refusing to lie down. If I did, he would strap me in again, and there would be no way out.

"Just one more night of this torture and I'll be free." I thought to myself, then answered him, "Nothing, sir." I tentatively lowered myself to the metal lab table, and just as expected, the straps snapped shut around my wrists and ankles. I thought furiously to not let out a shriek of fear, this never got any less scary, I usually had to be injected about every third day, and it was never a pleasant process.

"See how much easier it is when you don't fight your purpose?" he asked, now as calm as he was before. He then touched my cheek again with his cold, rough hand, and with just slight pressure using the magic that he had, I could feel a sharp jolt of energy shoot through my body. Then all emotion was lost, he pulled away, revealing my Sphere of Emotion in his palm. The brown sphere was in the center, which represented anxiety. I was feeling anxious to get out of here and to Alfea before he took that away from me. Now I felt nothing, I did nothing; it was his sure fire way to make sure I don't struggle or scream for the injection of that painful, arm tingling substance.

"Why were you nervous, how many times do I have to say it? This is what your purpose is!" He yelled, and again, I did not respond, although I could hear him clear as day and I wanted to tell him about Alfea... but then he might kill me if I did. I couldn't anyway because my emotions were taken away, and it wasn't a logical decision to reveal that secret. One of Dr. Tonson's colleagues handed him a prepared needle, filled with the very liquid that made my arm go into overload with stabbing pain.

"Now, hold her arm out." Dr. Tonson instructed his colleague. My emotional sphere was handed to the second colleague, while the first helped inject me with Dr. Tonson's creation. The white sphere was now in the center, shaking wildly; it represented fear. That is why If I had my emotions right now I'd be trying desperately not to plead for them to stop, despite the fear, the logic I based my decisions on told me not to. Besides it would make me look weak, and like I had mentioned, Dr. Tonson despised any type of emotion except anger. The first colleague stretched out my arm as Dr. Tonson slowly stuck the thin metal needle in my vein. The pain shot up my arm and made it feel intensely numb. It would only be a while before the numbness became agonizing stinging.

"There, she's been injected. Take her back to her bedroom." Dr. Tonson ordered his colleagues as they unstrapped me from his lab table. I sat up and stood tall, even with the searing numbness creeping into my arm. Dr. Tonson's colleagues roughly pulled me by both arms and dragged me out, and at this point I still did not have my emotions, but if I did I would be yelling in pain and furiously shouting back at him. That was what I would've loved to do, but what would he do? My biggest fear was if he knew I was planning my escape, I wasn't sure of the punishment I'd get if he did. Though if I could get away with my plan, I wouldn't have to worry about him any longer.

* * *

Tonson's colleagues pushed me into my plain bedroom, and slammed the door behind them. They gave me back my Sphere of Emotion while we were walking back, so as I heard the final click of the door locking behind them, I took it to my chest. The jolt of magic returned, and brought my emotions with it. With the sudden blast of energy, the feeling of pain spread through my body, and I collapsed on the hard bed, screaming in pain as tears sprung from my eyes. Most of it was over, now I just had to suffer the night.

"Tecna, is anyone with you? Can I come out now?" My voice came from the closet, I still haven't gotten used to the fact that my clone had my voice, she had to be flawless down to the last detail. I created her over the last couple of years so that when I finally did escape, Dr. Tonson wouldn't become suspicious of my mysterious disappearance. She would take my place as his pet project, and hopefully try to expose him for the sick man he was.

"Yes, T2.., you're clear to come out." I answered her through painful tears.

"That man is horrible, how do you go through with it every single day of your life?" T2 asked me, she too had experienced my pain a few times so that she was used to the feeling. Although she does plead more then I do, and unfortunately that could be a dead give away.

"I have no choice, T2.., just the thought of leaving to go to Alfea.., is the only thing that gets me.., through the day." I told my clone, "And hopefully you'll find a way.., to be set free someday too... I wouldn't want you.., to take my place forever."

"I'll try, Tecna, somehow, and I hope that you have a better life at Alfea. When are you leaving?" My clone asked.

"I'll be leaving.., early tomorrow morning... I'll wake you up and then you'll have to sleep in my bed.., and then I'll leave." I explained to her while holding my arm to ease the pain, although that never helped, it just become a habit.

"Do you want to be left alone, Tecna?" T2 offered quietly as she turned to go back into my closet.

"It doesn't matter.., no one is going to come back any time soon." I answered, so, with T2's better judgment, she snuck back to the closet in fear of being seen. Now I was left alone to take in all the pain, and once I got to Alfea, I decided it would be the best solution to keep all of this a secret from as many people as I possibly could. I didn't want the entire student body to feel obligated to pity me for my misfortune and the abuse I had to endure. The whole reason for escaping to Magix was so that I could forget about my past and make an entirely new life for myself.

 **Timmy's Point of View**

My name is Timothy Windez, but most of my friends call me Timmy. I was sent by my parents to be trained as a secret agent under the organization known as the MDFPP, or Magical Dimension's Fairy Protection Program. Ever since I was enrolled at fourteen, I dedicated most of my time perfecting my training so that I could prove to be a good enough agent to be sent on my first mission. It was the only thing that I had going for me, I had no friends in the agency, that wasn't my first priority for being there. For young agents in training, the Fairy Protection Program was like a military boot camp, we were split up into groups according to our specialties, mine for instance was being a strategist. Others were sent to perfect battle practices and stealth techniques. When I was not training, I spent my leisure time inventing magic sourced technical devices. From a young age, I was fascinated by how magic and technology could coexist as one, and knowing exactly how it worked was my passion, that and playing video games. I am seventeen now, and over the past two years of living at the agency, everyone in the organization insisted that I go to Red Fountain School for Magicians in the realm of Magix to learn how to be more of a master of defence rather than just a strategist. In the way of weapons, I preferred my laser gun to any other weapon, being that uncoordinated, I wouldn't be able to work with anything else. Today was the day when I would finally be assigned my first mission as a FPP secret agent, and I was told to meet with General Tyler, he assigned the junior agents with their first field missions. Once he determined they were ready, he matched them up with a mission that was best suited for their strengths. As I headed down the long hallway toward the doors, I passed one of the other men from my group of agents, everyone was well aware that today was the biggest day of my agent career.

"Hey buddy, I heard you're being assigned your first mission today, good luck." He chuckled, patting my shoulder roughly as he passed, "Although I will warn you, those fairies are hard to resist, keep your eyes on the prize, man. Don't let them distract you."

"You don't have to worry about that, logic and statistics have always kept me grounded." I reassured him as I reached the doors to an enormous room with all sorts of technical equipment and data files on every single fairy in the Magical Dimension. Behind a large desk sat General Tyler, dressed in uniform, and as he entered a sequence of numbers into the main computer, a projector screen flashed to life on the wall. He was a no nonsense type of man, a person who would be in the military of his own realm if he wanted, and one of the professors at Red Fountain, Cordatorta, reminds me of him because of their similar personalities.

"Windez, this is the day you prove you have the balls to be a secret agent under the Fairy Protection Program, as of this year, you are old enough for your first mission. Coincidentally, the fairy you are assigned to protect is predicted to arrive at Alfea tomorrow." General Tyler began, "We don't know much about her, all we have to go by is a name, place of origin, and a photo provided by the Alfea headmistress. The fairy's name is Tecna Logica, she is from Zenith, and here is her information." A picture and a few details about Tecna appeared on the projection screen in front of me, and as I gazed at the picture of the fairy in question. All the logic and reasoning in the world couldn't have prepared me for this, I was instantly mesmerized, she had short hair in a shade of vibrant magenta, and curious looking teal eyes that wanted to know everything. Normally I don't let my focus get lost so easily, but something about her just stunned me, as if she was unknowingly begging for my help.

" _Holy crap, she's gorgeous_." I whispered as quietly as I possibly could under my breath, unfortunately General Tyler had ears like an owl.

"Don't get any ideas, Windez, all you teenage boys are the same, you only want one thing, and if you even think about getting into this young fairy's pants, then you're off this mission, understood!" He snapped. The assumption that the thought would even cross my mind was insulting, I wouldn't even know how to attempt it anyway. That was something I would expect more from Riven, my roommate from Red Fountain. If I was assigned a mission, that was my main focus, and nothing else.

"I would never think of taking advantage of a vulnerable fairy that way! I'm not like any of the others you've had, I have priorities!" I protested defensively.

"Don't back talk to me, maggot, I know you teenagers better than you think I do." He continued sharply, "I wasn't born yesterday!" All I could do was nod in response and gather the the USB stick containing the notes on my assignment.

"I understand, General, but just one question, how did Ms. Faragonda obtain this picture of Tecna?"

"She sent it when she enrolled online, the headmistress has reason to believe there is more that meets the eye, and she is willing to guess that Tecna will reveal her secrets once she gets to Alfea. However, due to student and faculty confidentiality, the headmistress won't be able to tell us anything. All we need to know is that Tecna's life is in danger and she cannot handle this world alone. But remember, if she finds out that you are a secret agent, or if her life becomes threatened, your title as a junior secret agent will be stripped." General Tyler answered, leaving me speechless, this fairy's life was in my hands, but I was not a fighter. I could barely defend myself against anybody, never mind someone else's life. I guess that's the reason I'm attending Red Fountain, so that I would be ready for this.

 **Tecna's Point of View**

Early the next day, I woke up, eyes adjusting to the poorly lit bedroom. This was finally the day that I would escape this torturous life and start anew, and I felt a twinge of anticipation as I sprinted from my covers. In approximately five point three minutes I was dressed, and took my suitcase from my closet without waking T2 too soon. I didn't know a lot of spells, but one of the things I did with my leisure time was learning simple ones, like the miniaturization spell I used with all my belongings. The room was bare without all my things scattered around the place and it gave me the feeling that this was actually it, there was no turning back now. I sighed deeply, and went into my closet to wake T2.

"T2, wake up, it's time." I whispered, nudging her shoulder as she rose from sleeping.

"Already?" she yawned, creeping from the closet, and tucked herself into my bed, positioning herself to take my place. I was unsure how long she would have to go being me, the time span was too unpredictable to do the calculations. I watched T2 struggle to get comfortable in my bed, and somehow I felt sympathetic for her and a slight bit guilty.

"Goodbye." I whispered quietly, "Remember not to cause suspicion."

"I won't, bye Tecna." T2 yawned again, trying furiously to get comfortable. I hated to leave her to replace me, but it was her purpose. I shuddered at the thought of sounding like the one person I wanted to escape from, but for once it was a true statement from his reference. I slowly crept to the door and used the laser in my watch to unlock it; then I used my magic to undo the damage my laser did to the lock, as if nothing ever happened. Once I was in the hallway, I noticed security cameras on the ceiling, just as I had predicted. So, with my magic I disabled the security cameras for a few hours, so they wouldn't capture my motion, and record my escape. Then I ran furiously toward door after door trying to find the exit from this endless building. Finally I saw it, the doors to my freedom. I suspected it had an alarm sensor, so, like I did with the cameras, I disabled the alarm with my magic for half an hour. Once the alarm was disabled, I triumphantly swung open the doors to my freedom and ran as fast as my feet could carry me, with the huge bag of money in my pocket. I was fully aware that it was risky having all this money with me, I was a young woman, alone and an easy target to get robbed. However I couldn't think of any other way to bring it with me. I walked for what felt like endless hours until I finally got to a highway, only a few cars were out this early. I took another dangerous chance and began frantically waving my arms in the air; I hoped one of the drivers would see me. Sure enough, a lady stopped and pulled over.

"Goodness, young lady, what in Zenith are you doing on the side of the road at this hour, it's completely illogical?" She asked, opening her passenger side door for me. As she did, I gratefully got into the car.

"I know that, ma'am, and I apologize, but with the situation I'm in, I'm desperate to get as far away from here as possible. Could you please take me to a transport station?" I told her as I caught my breath. The woman looked at my arms and observed them, since I was injected every third day, Dr. Tonson had to rotate places in both arms, and there were bruises everywhere as a result.

"Oh, my.., has someone been abusing you?" she asked in total astonishment after a moment of looking at every inch of my arms.

"Yes..." I hesitated nervously, was she going to bring me to the authorities if I mentioned anything else? If that happened, then Dr. Tonson would definitely find out that I had escaped. The best possible course of action now would be just to keep my mouth shut.

"Oh, you poor thing, unfortunately there is not much I can do for you. The best thing I can do is take you to the transport station, but you make sure that you get far, far away from whoever is hurting you. Get as much help as you can." The woman replied, and I thanked her as we rode off to the nearest city, the capital city of Zenith.

* * *

Once we got to our destination, the friendly woman parked her car, and before I could get out, she stopped me, grabbing my wrist gently.

"Before you go, I want you to take fifty more dollars, that should help put you up for another night if you absolutely need it." She told me generously, " I have no idea where you're headed, but I hope it is somewhere safe."

"Thank you again, ma'am. I appreciate your kindness, but it wouldn't be right for me to accept such a large sum of money from a stranger." I insisted quietly as I turned back to her in surprise.

"You have been abused, you are desperately trying to escape the torture you've been put through, you need all the help you can get and I can't find it in me to just leave you stranded." The middle aged woman was pretty adamant about giving me the money, so I sighed in defeat and took it, putting it into my bag. As I left her car, I turned back hesitantly looking in her direction. Her reassuring smile told me that she knew she was doing a good deed. This was the type of thing that I didn't want to happen, for someone to take one look at me and assume that I was incapable of managing on my own. As she slowly drove away, I headed inside and walked to the back of the line at the ticket counter. Once I reached the front, I received yet another look of pity from the man selling the tickets.

"Excuse me, I'd like a ticket for the next bus to Magix, please." I began shyly, wondering what his reaction would be. I was half expecting him to ask me if I had someone accompanying me on this trip, and I could tell by the look on his face that he was fighting the urge.

"And your name is?" He asked.

"Tecna Logica." I answered simply as I took out my Zenith photo ID card, he observed it and typed in the information into the computer.

"And your phone number?" he added, all I had to give him was my cell phone number, and he added it to the information I gave him already, " that will be one hundred and fifty dollars." With the realization of how expensive the ticket was to get to Magix, I sighed and gave him the money I had in the bag in my pocket.

"The next trans-dimensional bus to Magix should be here in fifteen minutes." he informed me, I thanked him and went to take a seat. I was so exhausted from poor sleep, and I could barely keep my eyes open. Fifteen minutes later, just as I was told, the inter-dimensional bus to Magix pulled up, and I went aboard and took the bus ticket out from my bag.

"Thank you, miss." The driver replied as I took a seat in solitude by the window. There were few people on this bus, so it made it easier for me to get in a few more hours of sleep. It was a long ride, though it gave me time to do more research on Magix, and work on blueprints for my new inventions.

 **Timmy's Point of View**

The next night, I sat at my computer desk in the dorm at Red Fountain, and I had all the necessary documents for my mission on my handheld device. I couldn't help but stare blankly at the picture of the Zenithian fairy I was assigned to protect, Zenith was one of the Magical Dimension's most highly technological realms, and knowing this fairy resided from there guaranteed it was going to be hard for me to keep my priorities straight. Damn it, why must emotions have to get in the way of everything, I swear General Tyler ssigned me this mission because he knew I was liable to screw up. Suddenly my thoughts were broken by the sound of Prince Sky running into the room, and I immediately tried to close the image of Tecna on my device, unfortunately he spotted it before I could.

"Who's that," he asked me, "Damn she's a looker.., not as fine as my Princess Stella of course but still pretty hot." As much as I agreed, I had to change the subject, fast.

"It's nobody," I told him hastily, catching my breath, "So what's the hurry, what do you need me for?"

"Stella gave me a call and told me there is an ogre and a troll attacking her and another girl on Earth, we need to go and put that troll behind bars where it belongs!" This would be a good opportunity for me to use my new defence skills in a 'damsel in distress' scenario, since I was going to be in these types of situations in the near future.

"I'm in!" Grabbing my uniform out of my closet, I changed as quickly as I could, and grabbed my laser gun, meeting the rest of the guys out in the hallway.

"Okay, this may not be an official Red Fountain mission, but if we tell headmaster Saladin that we caught this troll, he might be able to get us more assignments like this." Sky explained.

"What, you want us to tell the headmaster that we went to Earth?" Brandon, Prince Sky's squire, questioned him, looking at him as if he was nuts.

"No, we'll leave the part about Stella and the other girl out, he doesn't need to know that." Sky continued, " Now let's work out the details later, we're wasting time!" During our previous year at Red Fountain, we were all given teleportation devices so that we could arrive on the scene of a battle without being detected, I took out mine and entered the coordinates of the last call that Sky relieved from his cellphone, from Princess Stella of Solaria. It turned out that she was in a beachside town on Earth known as Gardenia, located near a house in which I assumed belonged to the girl she was with. Now that we had our location, I used my device to transport our squad of Specialists to Earth, and as we materialized and turned the corner, we witnessed Stella and the other girl on the ground with the giant troll advancing towards them, and a yellow ogre standing a short distance away. Stella's new friend was a redhead dressed in blue, and I wondered if she had any magic abilities of her own. Without thinking, Riven was the first to act, tossing his bola around the troll's neck. I had my laser gun ready to shoot, Brandon had his shield and phatomblade, and Sky had his broadsword.

"Guys, I'm ready!" I announced proudly, I could deal with this overgrown brute as part of a team, and let Sky and Brandon tend to the fairies. Though, in the back of my mind I knew that being assigned a mission to protect a vulnerable fairy, I was eventually going to have to step up and grow a pair, as Riven would tell me.

"Okay let's take him to jail where he belongs!" Brandon ordered as Riven continued to keep the troll at bay.

"What's the rush," he asked with a smug smile, "Don't you want to have a little bit of fun first?"

"I wouldn't be so cocky if I were you," Prince Sky warned the burgundy haired rebel of our group, "after all, this is only our first mission." And just as predicted, the muscle bound troll threw Riven over his shoulder like a rag doll, and Sky sighed, "I rest my case." Suddenly the troll stormed towards us, and Brandon was the next to react with his shield.

"Stay behind me!" He advised the rest of us as the troll began furiously thrashing at his shield, "Sky, do you mind doing something!" The prince's expression become confused, as if he wasn't sure what he could do, when suddenly he swung back his green broadsword, hitting the ground as it created a translucent green wall, breaking the earth down the center and causing the troll to lose his focus on pummelling Brandon to a pulp.

"My turn!" I shouted, noticing that my voice just cracked, it was kind of humiliating because a seventeen year old would have been fully developed by now. That was not the case for me. Ignoring that fact, I just continued to shoot the troll with my laser gun as it fell into the hole that Sky created, and as I lowered my gun down, I felt a sense of pride from contributing to the team, "Bull's eye!"

"Yeah, well done," Brandon panted, "But it's not over yet." He turned around as we all noticed little red ghouls creeping up from the shadows.

"Girls," Riven just got up from his position sitting in between Stella and the redhead, they just looked at each other for a minute while watching him confront the creatures, "Okay, who wants to feel my blade, huh!" Riven attacked with his own sword, slashing most of the ghouls and throwing the last one other his shoulder, until the giant yellow ogre thrust forward, knocking him to the ground with just his fist. When the ogre looked at us next, there was a bright light from behind him, and he flew off his feet.

"See, I told you you could do it." Stella said to her new friend as she stood staring at her hands in amazement.

"Then I'm really a fairy." She answered, I suppose the rest of the guys are going to see her around Alfea this year if that was the case, and if not at least in the near future.

"Of course you are, I'm never wrong." Stella bragged as the ogre was left laying on the ground with a burning back, though it didn't take long for him to recover. However, Riven was back on his feet as well, ready for more action, although he didn't need to fight anymore as the ogre and the ghouls realized that they were outmatched and surrounded.

"Rats!" One of the ghouls hissed as they all disappeared in a purple light and smoke.

"Finally, this one's over!" Stella announced as she and her friend walked over to us, the redhead just signed in a mixture of annoyance and relief, "Bloom, meet our new heroes, Riven, Prince Sky..."

"Hey." The brunette Prince of Eraklyon greeted her, Eraklyon was where Sky and Brandon resided.

"Timmy..," As Princess Stella said my name, I couldn't help but smile bashfully, being acknowledged by a woman for any reason at all was enough to give me some pride, "And Brandon, Prince Sky's squire."

"Hello!" Brandon greeted them as I noticed that the troll was trying to escape the crack in the earth he was trapped in.

"Hey you, where do you think you're going?" I cuffed his neck with a shock collar. Just then, I saw two other people running out from the house, a man and his wife. The man was in complete shock at the destruction of his home and the woman was almost in tears. I felt tremendously bad leaving this place the way it was, but our job was done, and we could be seen by any other non-magical beings. It was bad enough that who I assumed was the redhead's, Bloom's, parents, had already seen us. I began levitating the troll, to take it back with us to the Magical Dimension, as Riven and the rest of the group gathered around me.

"See you later!" We all called out in unison as the portal opened, and we vanished from the scene, materializing back in front of the Red Fountain campus.

"Okay, so now what do we do with this thing, Sky?" Brandon asked as we stood stumped, not knowing what to do.

"Bring him to Headmaster Saladin, tell him we saw him out in the forest and caught him before he could cause more trouble." Sky explained, "That's our story and we're sticking to it." And so, the four of us explained our fake mission to the headmaster, who seemed to be very impressed with our teamwork.

"Very well done boys," he praised us proudly, "Unfortunately there is nothing we can do about him until Alfea's back to school gala is finished, it would be bad news for our reputation if the fairies knew we were transporting a troll to Magix City, they are fugitive creatures. We'll keep him under lock and key until the next week, then you boys will have the responsibility of taking him to the authorities."

"Yes sir!" The guys and I responded with a solute of our right hands, and returned to our dorms. This wasn't quite the exciting action packed battle I was hoping to participate in, but I knew very soon that I was going to meet Tecna, changing the way I looked at being a secret agent forever. My only thought now was a plan of action, should I proceed as a mysterious hero, looking out for her without her knowing I even exist, or should I get to know her as a friend just so I can get closer to her and build her trust in me. I was never that stealthy, so I was bound to be found out sooner or later, and I am not at all social, getting her to become my friend would be as complicated as charging the battery on a tablet with a cellphone charger. With all my logic and strategic know how, I should be able to figure this out without getting lost in the world of emotions.

 **Tecna's Point of View**

Finally, I got to Magix, the inter-realm shuttle bus stopped as its passengers, including myself, stepped out. It was late at night when I finally made it there, and I don't know how many hours passed due to realm time zones. I pulled my luggage along with me out of the station and numerous taxi cabs lined up in front of the doors. I was quite sick of traveling by now, and I just needed to rest, but I was almost done for the day.

"Where to, miss?" The taxi driver asked.

"The least expensive inn you know of." I stated simply, hiding my arms and sighing wearily. He drove me to the Magical Sleep Inn, what was so magical about the sleep you had here? I suppose I had yet to find out that for myself. I stepped out of the hover car with my luggage and paid the driver. Once he drove away, I walked through the revolving doors and towards the front desk.

"Excuse me?" I asked hesitantly, and for the third time that day, I received a look of pity from the lady at the desk.

"Yes?" She turned to face me, apparently taken back by my appearance. I was scarred, had messy hair and bags under my eyes, it was a long day.

"Please, I just need a place to stay the night." I stated quietly, not knowing if she'd accept, even if I had the money.

"No offence, sweetheart, but can you afford to pay for a room?" She asked me, and because of my off putting appearance, the assumption that I lived in poverty was accepted.

"But I do." I insisted, taking the fifty dollars I received out of my bag. The lady at the front desk' mouth dropped in shock by the amount of money I had.

"That's just enough to put you up for the night here. May I see some ID?" And so, once again, I took out my photo ID and gave it to her. She asked for my phone number and address, and I gave her my cellphone number once again. I was too tired to think of what to do for my address, so I just told her to enter the address to Alfea as I explained that I was going to be staying there for the year. She didn't even question my parents or where I came from, she just gave me a registration paper to sign. By now, I just wanted to drop, and I was so close. I thought as logically as I could, and came to the conclusion that it would be safer for me to sign with my middle name, so that if anything happened to me, they wouldn't be lead back to Dr. Tonson.

"All right, your room number is 134." She gave me the key card and I thanked her before heading out. I walked out and down the walkway of rooms, then I spotted it, room 134. Sliding the key into the electronic lock, I inhaled the fresh night air. It was such a thrill to be free like this, but I hoped that tonight would be the first and last night on my own. The next day would be the day I would hopefully go to Alfea. Once inside my room, I wasted no time looking around and collapsed on the bed. It was so soft, I couldn't believe anything could be better than the bed I slept in back in Zenith. Every muscle in my body related at the comfort of the blanket and the indescribable sinking feeling of the mattress. After minutes of taking in the forgiveness of the bed, I struggled to lift myself up and look at myself in the mirror.

"Great Dragon, I look like a bunch of tangled wires." This was what everyone had been staring at when they saw me, bruises and scars covered my arms completely, there were dark circles under my eyes, my hair was a mess and my clothes were covered in dirt from running towards the highway from Tonson's building. No wonder I was getting all these sympathetic looks, I'd been traveling throughout the Magical Dimension looking like this, it was embarrassing! On the bus ride to Magix, I bought a travel pack of tooth paste, a tooth brush and a hair brush from a little dollar store in the city of Atom when the inter-dimensional bus stopped in Electro. I also bought a tin of powder from another store, the powder was a magical cover-up that was supposed to hide any imperfections, and when I bought it I hoped it could hide all these scars, so I buried every inch of my arms in the powder, and in an instant, magical sparkles surrounded where I rubbed it in, and it looked like my arms were barely scarred at all! What other miraculous inventions does the universe hold? Now that the bruises and scars on my arms were completely gone, I took the menu for the restaurant down the road off of the bedside table. I knew what I was going to have, I ordered in, by this hour I was starved. I knew that after tonight I had to be more budget conscience. At least at Alfea I would have the basic needs of any normal fairy. As my head hit the pillow, it took me a moment to realize that everything I had endured over the years was gone. Seconds passed before my heart began to race with anxiety, never had I experienced so much emotion all at once. Usually the only emotions that I express were pain, fear, and sadness, but only one at a time. Now there were so many emotions at once that I didn't like it, excitement, anxiety, fear, relief that I was finally free from Tonson's abuse. I suddenly sat up, noticing hot salty tears falling from my eyes. I knew I had to get some sleep or else I'd be very tired the next day, I was already pretty exhausted, so I grabbed some tissue from the bathroom and tried to dry my eyes and calm my thoughts before attempting to fall asleep again. This time, I just let the softness of the bed comfort me, something I never got to do before, it almost felt like something magical was telling me that everything was going to be okay, that I'd be safe from now on. Midway into deep sleep, I could feel a gentle hand on my shoulder, subconsciously, though I was too exhausted for it to wake me.


	2. Welcome to Magix

**Just because I didn't put this in the author's note in the first chapter, I'll put it here.**

 **All Episode Dialogue (c) Winx Club - Iginio Straffi and Rainbow S.r.i.**

* * *

 **Chapter Two: Welcome to Magix**

I woke up at nine thirty to the sound of an alarm clock, an annoying buzz. I had no idea how it worked, however I was able to figure it out in no time. I was so used to being woken up by Dr. Tonson's colleagues, I was usually forced to get up by six thirty every single morning, even on weekends. I struggled to open my eyes, for a few seconds I forgot where I was, and how I even got here. Then I remembered the previous day, and the long bus ride to Magix. Today was the day I finally got to see Alfea for myself, in all its magical glory. After covering up with the magical powder once again, I went across the road for breakfast. The woman at the counter led me to a table near the window and I waited for my server. It didn't take long before she came, and I had decided on a drink.

"Can I start you off with something to drink?" She asked me.

"Water please." I answered, it was the only thing I was allowed to have with my meals, I haven't tasted anything else and I was skeptical to do so. All I focused on was the price as I read the menu, and in the end I ended up deciding to have a fruit salad, and despite the fact that I picked the least expensive meal on the menu, it was the best thing I had ever tasted. I didn't know there would be anything better than the food I was given in that windowless building I called home, but the food at this diner made the food I had eaten everyday look and taste bland. I wasn't sure what to think of my old life at that moment, it was as if my whole world had been put into question.

* * *

After breakfast, I walked down the street near the inn, watching many other fairies my age wandering around, some with their families, others by themselves, and others with friends. I always wondered what it was like to have some kind of a friend. T2 was the closest person I had to a friend, but I created her, so logically, and sadly, she didn't really count. My bus pulled up to the Magical Sleep Inn approximately forty five minutes later, and once I saw it, I took a deep breath. This was it, this was the path to my freedom, a chance for me to see the real Magical Dimension, and not from inside an endless building or through articles on the Realm Wide Web. I knew it was going to be hard for me to keep my abuse a secret from everyone. I didn't even want Headmistress Faragonda to know about my personal life, with my logical decision making and tendency to over analyze everything, I was certain that would prove me more than capable of handling things on my own. Boarding the bus, I saw many of the same fairies that were wandering Magix, and as I searched for an empty seat, I saw one right next to a girl with jet black pigtails, she wore a red halter top - I think that's what it's called - and baggy blue jeans. It appeared that she had earphones in, so I didn't bother her. In about an hour, the bus approached Alfea, and I looked out the window to see the school itself. I've seen the wonderful school in photos on the Realm Wide Web when I first researched it, but nothing was as breathtaking as the real thing. It was like a castle of pink, with sparkling blue windows and roofs, and the quad was very spacious, I could not believe that this was hopefully going to be my new home. Stepping out in front of the wing shaped gates, I felt like this was the biggest step of my entire life. I looked around to see the line of students and stood by a girl with long, dark blue hair. Ms Griselda was at the front of that line, she was Alfea's head of discipline.

"What is your name, young lady?" Ms Griselda questioned the girl in front of me, she looked nervous, but unlike her, I stood tall, hiding all insecurities. At that moment, I decided that whatever happened will happen, that was the only logical outcome.

"Uh, Elinore of Dolona," The girl stuttered, " I.., I.., I sent my registration for-." but before she could continue, Ms. Griselda interrupted. I signed up online secretly, and forged Dr. Tonson's name for parental consent... I know it was immoral, but if it meant escaping his horrible experiments, I would do anything in my control to get in to this school. And if I couldn't, there would be nothing more I could do after that.

"All right, let's see if your name appears on the list," Griselda began, "Elinore.., Elinore, are you nervous young lady?"

"Uh.., a little, I-" The girl answered, stammering even more as time went on.

"There you are," Ms Griselda finally spotted the girl's name on her clipboard; and she suddenly showed great signs of relief, "Elinore of Dolona, you can go in." The girl thanked her as she walked past.

"Next!" Ms Griselda shouted, I was up, and I had to keep calm and think logically, and whatever happens after this, I could not change. If I was turned down, that would be it. I would walk away knowing that I tried to the best of my ability, "And your name is?"

"Tecna Logica of Zenith." I answered, hiding all the fear and uncertainty I had in me. Though, the feeling deep inside of me was growing as I faced the head of discipline.

"So you're Miss Tecna, Of course you're on the list, you're the honour roll student from Zenith. Ms Faragonda insisted that you were accepted into Alfea." Ms Griselda replied proudly. She suddenly gave me a look of curiosity and slight worry. This made me wonder why the headmistress was so insistent on accepting me into Alfea, did she suspect anything from my registration form? It didn't matter now, I was in, and it was so easy it was too good to be true, but low and behold there I was, standing on Alfea's quad. Everything was so beautiful, and I had never seen the sun shine in my entire life, the morning breeze felt refreshing on my bare arms, although it made my covered up scars tingle with the exposure. After a few minutes of enjoying the scenery, I followed a group of freshmen who were led by Ms Griselda, she was going to explain the rules of the school to us. The group included the girl I sat next to on the bus and the infamous Princess Stella of Solaria, I read that she blew up the potions laboratory last year. It looked like she had a friend with her, the girl was a redhead wearing blue. Joining the group, I stood by a few fairies and waited until Ms Griselda spoke.

"This school will be your home for the next five years," she began with a stern voice which I was used to, "But, this home can cease to be yours at any moment. The rules of this institution are based on discipline. Disregard these rules and I'll personally escort you to the front gate!" she continued sharply, pointing in the direction of the forest outside of the school. That made me a little nervous, I did not want to fall under the influence of anybody who decided to disobey Ms Griselda, "This is not a magician's school, you are not here to learn 'hocus pocus', consequently you may not use your powers in the hallways or other common areas. In fact the only place where you may display your powers is in your classroom under teachers' supervision. Is that clear Princess Stella?! Thanks to you and your antics the potion laboratory will not be accessible until next month at the earliest. Now I think you know what not to do if you wish to stay? Huh?" Everyone looked at the blonde princess of Solaria with looks of shock on our faces. Ms. Griselda was really giving me the same uneasy vibe that I got from Dr. Tonson when he was mad at me.

"You did that?" The redhead asked Stella quietly.

"So, my father paid for all the damages." Stella answered, I couldn't believe how vain she sounded, as if she could get her father to bail her out of everything.., well at least she had a real father. Suddenly, we all turned to see Headmistress Faragonda herself, along with three other Alfea staff members, walking towards us.

"Sorry I'm late, I hope you'll excuse me." She replied casually.

"Ladies, here comes your headmistress, attention!" Ms. Griselda announced strictly

"Oh really, there's no need to be so stodgy. I hope Ms. Griselda hasn't frightened you too much." Ms Faragonda said with a slight laugh. "Welcome to Alfea, the best fairy school in the whole of Magix." As we began walking up the steps to the main doors, she continued, "Mind you it's also the only one. Come on the in, ladies!" And as our group reached the main doors, the headmistress began to open them.

"Here we are," she swung open the doors to the enchanting school, "And so, we began our orientation session, by the end of which we should all know each other better. Becoming a fairy is hard work, but I know that everyone here can do it. Keep in mind that the teachers and I are always here to help you." I continued to follow the group of freshmen to the grand entrance room. It was even more amazing than I could ever believe a school for fairies could be.

"Okay, enough with the boring stuff, feel free to explore your surroundings, but be very careful, there are dangers lurking about." Ms Faragonda continued her speech, even when Stella mimicked what she was going to say next.

"Stay away from the witches of Cloud Tower, listen, that's what's coming up." Stella whispered to her new friend with a quiet giggle.

"Stay away from the witches of Cloud Tower." Just as predicted, Ms Faragonda said those exact same words. Naturally Stella memorized the quote by heart after her previous year of attending Alfea.

"All right, speeches are over. Everyone's dismissed, you're free 'til dinner time." Ms Griselda announced with a clap of her hands.

"Good luck everybody, I'll see you all tomorrow." Ms Faragonda added cheerfully, "Oh, and classes start at eight O clock sharp, do be punctual." Finally my magic was actually going to have a better purpose. I had a chance to transform every once in a while, just to keep me in shape, but now, I was going to use it everyday, the way a fairy was meant to use them. I was about to go up to the dorm wing when Ms Faragonda stopped me dead in my tracks.

"Tecna, I'd like to speak to you in private." She told me, that, and the look that Ms Griselda gave me, made me begin to worry. Without question, I followed the headmistress and the head of discipline up the stairs to her office, and I sat down in a chair in front of her desk.

"Now, Ms Griselda and I have some deep concerns about you? It is not uncommon for a fairy from Zenith, or any realm known for advanced technology for that matter, to submit her registration form online. However it is very odd that you did it all on your own without any assistance from Dr. Tonson." Ms Faragonda stated, "And another thing, I have come across many fairies who attempted to forge signatures for parental consent, I knew that was your writing."

"Then why did you accept me in?" I asked, confused. From the way she was saying this, it sounded like I was in trouble.

"Because I have reason to suspect that there is something wrong at home. Tell us Tecna, what are you trying to hide?" Ms Faragonda admitted, was it really that obvious? Visions of every day of my life clouded my mind, the needle, the pain, the bland food and having the same thing every single day. Now that Ms Faragonda knew that something was amiss, I had to get out of there before they discovered anything else.

"Excuse me..." I quickly rushed out, feeling hot tears rush from my eyes down my face, I didn't know what was happening to me, but one thing was for sure, I didn't like it. I buried my face from sight behind my hands as I ran down the hallway to find the nearest washroom. All I needed was a few minutes to collect myself so I could go back to Ms Faragonda and Ms Griselda and try to convince them that nothing was wrong. Once I saw one, I slipped into a stall and stood there... taking deep breaths to stop from crying.

" _Come on Tecna, this is totally illogical! You're better than this!_ " I thought to myself before I heard a knock on the bathroom door.

"Tecna, are you in there?" I could hear Ms Faragonda ask me. I stood silently, hoping she would think I wasn't here, "Tecna?

"If you're not coming out, then we have no choice but to come in. This is for your own good." I heard Ms Griselda add, and moments after not responding later, the bathroom door opened, and there was a knock on the stall that I was hiding in. They had very concerned looks on their faces, and my current actions were not helping my case.

"Tecna, look at us, tell us what is going on." Ms Faragonda encouraged me, I sighed and lifted my head to face them.

"Ms Faragonda, I think you should see her arms." The head of discipline told her, and I snapped my gaze toward my right arm, the magical powder was coming off, revealing every bruise and scar there was.

"Oh Great Dragon, this is serious," Ms Faragonda gasped in complete shock, I had no idea what they were going to do now, "Tecna, you better come with us." In a few minutes, I was back in Ms. Faragonda's office, with what she said was cinnamon tea placed in front of me. It smelled so comforting and tasted sweet. After a few sips, I felt calm again. I was so embarrassed and scared of what they would have to do. Would they take me to the authorities, if so then it would only be a matter of time before Dr. Tonson figured out that I was here.

"I want you to be completely honest with me, Tecna, has this Dr. Tonson abused you?" The Alfea headmistress continued to ask me. I didn't know what to tell her, I suppose it was obvious that I had been, I had no choice but to tell her the truth.

"Yes." I confessed as my throat closed up.

"Miss Tecna, whatever you have to tell us does not leave this office," Ms Griselda reassured me evenly, "but because you've been physically abused, we are obligated to go through any means necessary to protect you." This is what I was dreading the most, a pity party. If I was going to start crying like this more often, I would prefer to do it in solitude so I didn't appear weak and illogical. Now I had to explain all I could ever remember, every excruciating detail, everything from Dr. Tonson's creation, to the needle, and how I was locked in my room for most of my life. I even told them about the bland food and how I had the same thing every single day. By now, the hot tears in my eyes had returned, and I couldn't stop them.

"Oh you poor thing!" Ms Faragonda exclaimed.

"That's all the proof we need to go to the authorities; this is a very serious situation we have-" Ms Griselda began.

"No!" I shouted uncontrollably, the last thing I needed was for Dr. Tonson to find out that I escaped, "Please Ms. Faragonda, if he finds out that I came to Magix, he could actually kill me if he wanted to!"

"There's no need to worry, Tecna, we'll make sure that you won't be taken back there. That part of your life is over now." Ms Faragonda reassured me as she placed her hands on my shoulders.., there it was, the same reassuring feeling I got last night, those were her hands I felt, "Unfortunately this does mean for you that I have to take over all your legal responsibilities, those that a parent would usually have."

"I think I'm very capable of taking care of myself, Ms Faragonda." I protested defensively.

"Miss Tecna, the Magical Dimension can be a very dangerous place if you're not too careful." Ms Griselda advised me firmly, "As of right now, this matter is out of your hands, and besides you can't legally take care of yourself until you're nineteen."

"But-" I tried again to protest, however the headmistress and head of discipline wouldn't have it.

"No buts about it, this is for your own good," Ms Faragonda insisted as I sighed in defeat, "All you have to do is focus on learning about your magical abilities, just leave the rest to us. Although there are a couple things I want to mention, I'm going to keep your money safe here in my office and help set you up with a bank account in Downtown Magix, and secondly, you are not to leave this campus unless accompanied by someone else, even a roommate." I thought about those conditions for a moment, and finally agreed that it was only logica for me to follow these terms.

"Now go to your dormitory and meet your new roommates, get yourself settled in and we will let you know everything you need." Ms. Griselda instructed. As I walked out of her office with my luggage, I couldn't help but wonder exactly what Ms Faragonda insisted on doing for me, taking on my legal responsibilities, and if a roommate is required to be with me at all times when I'm off campus, other students could start to ask about me.

* * *

I walked down the hallway in the dorm wing, and spotted my room, my name was at the bottom of a list which included Princess Stella and another princess, Veranda of Callisto. I stepped slowly into the common area, no one seemed to be around yet, and so I looked around to see what room was mine. The bulletin by the door read that I was sharing a room with a girl named Musa from Melody. I walked into the room, and to my surprise, I saw the girl I sat by on the bus. The room itself was split in two, with a side for me and a side for her, they were already furnished with a bed, dresser, a few shelves and computer desk.

"It's you, the girl I sat next to on the bus." I began, the girl was unpacking at the moment, and she turned in my direction as I acknowledged her.

"Hey yeah, I thought I recognized you when you walked in, you must be Tecna." The girl answered, setting down a huge saxophone.

"Yes, I am, and you must be Musa." I replied as I opened one of my suitcases and took out my bedding, which included a green blanket with a circuitry design on it.

"Yep, hey I guess we'd be bunking with Stella. Did you hear what she did?" Musa asked me.

"Unfortunately, she doesn't even seem to care, she made her father pay for the damages." I told her as I took out my computer and placed it on the desk in the corner. I cast a miniaturization spell on everything so it could all fit in only two suitcases. Once all my belongings were unpacked, I sat in the chair beside my new desk.

"Hey, why don't you check out who else we're bunking with, I'll meet up with you in a second. I just have to grab the last of my luggage." Musa told me, and she left the room. I went out and suddenly heard voices coming from the other room. Stella's friend came out of her room to look at the name on the bulletin.

"In fact… uh, my real name is...Veranda...of Callisto." She said hesitantly to a tanned brunette, "Yeah, that's it." Something was suddenly suspicious about her, she was uncertain, so logically I could tell she was lying. I had to speak up, or else she was going to bump right into me.

"Callisto, fourth world of magic realm's upper ring." I informed the red head, I could easily tell she wasn't the real princess of Callisto, just by the look on her face, "Wow, that's quite a ways away." I researched a little bit of Callisto in my spare time, so I knew a little bit about where she claimed to be from, "Hi, my name's Tecna." Then, the Solarian princess walked over to us, along with the brunette.

"Hi Tecna, I'm Stella." She began, of course you are, Stella, Princess of Solaria, everyone knows that.

"Hey, I've heard about you." I looked at her with an expression that had a subtle bit of aggravation. Just then I heard Musa come in.

"Me too," She added as she came in with a bag over her shoulder, "by the way, before you blow up your room, give us time to duck and cover, okay." Everyone began laughing, except for me and Stella, who was not very amused.

"Uh, it was just an accident if you really want to know." Stella insisted as I walked over to her; I would have guessed that her father pulled some strings to get her into Alfea for a second year.

"An accident that got you expelled, how did you manage to get re-admitted?" I asked out of curiosity.

"Well, the truth is they couldn't do without someone as gorgeous as me." Stella boasted, in other words, my hunch about her father was right on. Suddenly we all heard a high pitched yelling from the bedroom, a bunny was being grabbed by a plant; I just hope I wouldn't be its next victim.

"Bad plant!" the tanned brunette ordered with a surprised gasp, "Put him down right away!"

"No, Flora, don't scold your plant." Veranda knelt down and picked the bunny up, "Kiko probably tried to eat it, it was just trying to defend itself." The brunette, named Flora, came over and took a bowl off the table.

"You hungry, little bunny?" she asked as she sprinkled seeds in the soil filled bowl, they suddenly grew into carrots, "Here." I was fascinated by this instant magical growth. Coming from a technologically enhanced realm, seeing nature magic was something completely new to me. It was incredible to see such a thing.

"Speaking of food.., what do you say we eat out tonight?" Stella replied. "It'll be our way of celebrating the new school year."

"Great idea," Flora agreed, "That'll give us a chance to get to know one another."

"Anyone for pizza?" Veranda asked.

"What's pizza?" Musa answered, I had no idea what pizza was either, this was going to be a new experience for me, and there were a lot more to come.

"Yeah, what is it?" Flora asked Veranda.

"It's the national dish of Callisto.., more or less." Veranda answered. If pizza was the national dish of Callisto, we would know what it was.

"Well, let's try it out!" Stella cheered as we ran out the door. As we walked down the hallway, we spotted Ms Griselda with a skeptical look on her face. I ignored it as we continued down onto the quad and past Alfea's gates.

As the bus stopped, I heard the driver announce the last stop of the trip. We told Veranda to close her eyes and I guided her to the sidewalk as the others followed. She had never been away from Callisto before, or so she claimed, so we wanted to surprise her.

"Are we there yet, can I open my eyes?" She asked as I guided her to a safe place on the sidewalk.

"Yes, go ahead, take a look." I told her. She uncovered her eyes, and for some reason, she didn't look too thrilled.

"You look disappointed." Musa thought.

"Of course I'm disappointed. This is it, Magix, capital of the realm of Magix, most enchanted city in the universe?" Veranda answered. Yes, this was it; and even I was more fascinated by it in person. Even being locked up all my life, I knew that this was what you'd expect from Magix City.

"Well, what did you expect?" Musa asked Veranda.

"I don't know. Dragons, gnomes, wizards, shops full of magic wounds." Veranda replied.

"But that's fairytale stuff, this is the real world." Stella explained to her, "Here, everything lives off its own magical energy, magic is everywhere." Suddenly, a car whizzed by Veranda, and was about to park in the lot. The driver couldn't find a space, so he snapped his fingers, and an extra space appeared right before his eyes. That looked so interesting that I wondered if using magic was going to be that easy in the distant future, if so, it seemed to me like it would be worth the effort in learning how to use it. Unfortunately, Veranda didn't look too impressed by this simple yet effective use of magic.

"Good heavens!" She gasped. I didn't understand, how could I, who was a lab rat for my entire life, know more about Magix than a princess that hasn't left her realm? This made my theory about her not being the real Princess Veranda of Callisto seem to be even more true by the minute.

"If you wanna see it, you just gotta look." Stella told her.

"And now, lets eat!" Flora reminded us; I nearly forgot why we were here in the first place. I was just so captivated by the marvels of Magix and the people using magic for simple things.

"Yeah, let's go." I added as we started walking again. We walked down the street to an outdoor pizza polar. I had never seen such a nice place, it sure seemed pleasant enough. Veranda went to order our pizza while we all sat around a table. When we got our pizza and I took a bite of my first ever slice; it was the best thing I had ever tasted in my life. I began to think that I was missing out on so much of life's experiences, and I could not wait to find out more. As we were eating, Musa noticed that I was eating very fast. I never ate this way; it was just that this pizza was so good.

"Tecna, slow down. Its like you haven't eaten for days." Musa replied.

"It's not good for your health to eat so fast." Flora informed me. I would have to do some research about these different foods before I got out of control.

"Not to mention your waist line." Stella added.

"I'm sorry, but this is so much better compared to what I usually have!" I told my new friends, I knew I wouldn't be giving away too much if I told them what I usually ate.

"What do they give you?" Stella asked, "Obviously a machine made it, and it probably tastes like metal." She could be right, about the food being made by a machine at least. Flora looked at her as if Stella had just insulted me.

"Stella, that's not very nice!" Flora scolded the Solarian princess.

"It's fine, Flora." I told her sincerely, "She could be right. What I have every day is eggs for breakfast, canned soup for lunch, and meat loaf, peas and potatoes for dinner. Although sometimes they change the way it's cooked, and the type of soup I have." I explained.

"You have the same thing everyday?" Musa asked me, and I nodded.

"Wow, I thought you technology fairies were kinda cool, but now I pity you." Stella replied, and I welcomed that because she had every right to feel bad for me, but for me only. Unfortunately, she received another scolding look from Flora.

"Don't pity all of us just by how I live. A lot of technology fairies live a much better life then I do." I told them.

"So, what exactly is a technology fairy?" Veranda asked, and we all were left speechless. Stella whispered something in her ear, which I had no idea what she told her.

"Oh, sorry, I understand now." Veranda suddenly said, leaving me, Flora and Musa baffled.

"What was that about?" Musa asked.

"I can be a bit clueless sometimes." Veranda giggled nervously.

 **Timmy's Point of View**

Today was just a slow day before the start of classes in the morning, and just like the year before, I overheard Sky and Brandon talking about Alfea's back to school gala. The freshman fairies were not yet aware of it, and the headmistress was going to announce it at lunch time in a couple days. Last year it didn't even cross my mind to attend, the very thought gave me social anxiety, and I didn't think the rest of the guys would make me go, until now.

"Hey guys, let's make a bet that we can get Timmy to go to Alfea's dance this Friday." Riven joked.

"Riven, he is in the other room, he can hear you." I could hear Brandon scold him.

"Oh come on, the geek's a total shut in, he needs to grow some balls."

"Either he is going to be seriously pissed at you, or completely humiliated during the dance, no matter how you spin it, it won't end well for him." Sky advised.

"You're passing up five bucks each, that's an easy fifteen bucks right there." Riven pressed. Inside, I was irritated by the fact that they were talking about me behind my back, but I chose to ignore them in hopes that Brandon would talk some sense into the spiky haired rebel.

"Well, it is five bucks each." Sky chuckled, and then I heard footsteps coming in my direction. Perhaps this was a good opportunity to find Tecna and actually see what she looks like in person. I still needed an approach to protecting her without attracting any unnecessary attention. Then again I didn't want to embarrass myself in front of her either.

"Hey Timmy, we think you should come to Alfea's school dance with us this year." Brandon began.

"Oh, quit beating around the bush, Brandon!" Riven continued, "Listen, mainframe, you're going to that dance, rather you like it or not."

"So who's going to get the fifteen bucks?" I asked sarcastically.

"Damn he's got good hearing." I heard Riven mumble under his breath.

"Fine, I'll go if it makes you all happy, just don't expect me to socialize." I pointed out, crossing my arms seriously.

"First one to set up Timmy with a chick gets the pot." I heard Sky whisper to the rest of the guys as I turned my back.

"I heard that!" I shouted, leaving the room and shutting the door. If I could spot Tecna in the crowd of Alfea students, I could make it look like I'm talking to her just to get the others off my back. It would also give me a chance to possibly get to know her a little, the information might come in handy later on in my mission.

 **Tecna's Point of View**

By the time we were finished eating, it was dark, and I wanted to go back to Alfea and get my room ready for the year. Veranda had been playing with her cell phone for at least fifteen minutes before finally speaking.

"I don't understand why my cell's not working. See, I press down the number and nothing happens." She explained. Although I was trapped in an endless building all my life, it had been my favourite past-time to take apart electronics. I was deeply fascinated by the mechanics of technological advancements, and secretly studied their interior structure, so I knew how they worked and how to fix them.

"Let me have a look." I offered, and she handed me the cell phone, "I'm very good with electronic stuff." As I saw the internal design of this primitive thing, I began laughing uncontrollably. I could not believe how old this phone was, no wonder it didn't work.

"Tecna, what's so funny?" Musa asked me, I hated insulting Veranda, but her phone didn't even use magic.

"This is prehistoric technology, where did you get that thing?" I tried so hard not to start laughing again, being a technology fairy, I couldn't help it, even if I didn't know much about the outside world, I knew enough to know this phone was too primitive to exist anymore. Something was definitely off with "Veranda" and I was getting so close to exposing her as a fake.

"But, it's the most recent model." Veranda replied, then I heard Stella whisper in her ear again.

"Sorry.., I shouldn't have laughed, that was rude." I admitted, closing my eyes, so as not to look at her immensely primitive cell phone, and then I slipped her my phone card as she went down the street. Once she was out of earshot, I continued my apology.

"I'm sorry for how I acted, but I couldn't help it." I pleaded with the girls as I put the pieces of Veranda's cell phone back together.

"Don't worry about it, Tecna. She didn't know." Stella told me.

"But I could've been more discrete about it." I insisted, I made myself feel bad for laughing at how primitive her phone was. This was another emotion I was not used to, guilt.

"Don't feel bad about it, I know Veranda will forgive you." Flora gave me a smile of reassurance. There was something about her sweetness and positive out-going attitude that made me feel like I wanted to be around her more, it was as if she could never be mad at me.

* * *

We sat by a fountain waiting for a long time, by now we started to worry about Veranda. I was almost worried something must've happen to her.

"Where's Veranda, she should be back by now?" I asked.

"I don't know, maybe she got lost." Flora thought, and my worries began to increase.

"Well, I know where the pay phone she used is, just around the corner." I told them. You must be wondering why I would have a pay phone card when I'm known to always use my pager, well if I were to misplace it, at least I'd have a back up means of communication. So I showed them the way, and sure enough, a block from there, we saw three witches and an ogre, and they had frozen Veranda in ice completely! I was horrified as I watched them surround the ice. I could imagine that witches were the most heartless of magical beings, but this was beyond too frightening to witness.., possibly even more frightening than the things I've already had to endure. Seeing what was in front of me, I began to shake nervously as we waited for the perfect moment to reveal ourselves.

"What a pity you had to meet us." A witch with long white hair scratched the ice with her fingernails, the sound was irritating for our ears, so it must've been torture for Veranda, "Sweet little fairy." That was our cue to jump into action, at least that's what I assumed as Stella sprung from her hiding place, as did Flora and Musa, so I followed.

"Leave her alone!" Stella shouted, "Take us on instead!" I had to stop shaking long enough to look strong to these three senior witches. I only hoped I would survive this, they looked ruthless, and I of all fairies couldn't be killed when there was a whole magical dimension of discoveries I wanted to see.

"Pathetic," The witch with white hair shrugged, "Knut, they're all yours, have fun." Then, the ogre roared and stomped toward us, and we jumped out of the way just in time and transformed. My Magic Winx outfit was a purple full body suit with powder blue glove-like sleeves and matching knee length boots. On my head, I wore a pointed purple helmet with powder blue outlining where my forehead was revealed, and in the centre of the helmet was a green tear shaped decoration that matched the same one on my chest. And my green wings had a wire looking design that, if needed, expanded into a glider. I couldn't remember the last time I transformed, even for exercise, I needed to spread me wings, literary.

Flora's Magic Winx outfit was a pink one piece dress which appeared to have a petal design on the bottom, and a darker pink top. Her ankle high boots matched the colour of her dress and her gloves were above the elbow and a few shades lighter than the rest of her outfit, and she wore a collar with a flower around her neck. Her wings looked like green leaves.

Musa's was another one piece dress, this time in red. It was a halter top like her everyday shirt, but had translucent material where her stomach showed. She had knee length red boots and purple ribbons around her arms right above her elbows that matched decorative headphones of the same colour. Musa's wings looked like that of a dragonfly in a dark blue, with purple lines near the top of the upper set.

Stella's Magic Winx outfit was an orange two piece halter and shorts combination with matching knee high boots. Her sun blonde hair was tied in long pigtails by orange hair ties, and the Solarian princess wore a light blue headband that matched wrist bands on either arm. Her wings were a little harder for me to describe but were like stretched ovals of three sizes in light blue with darker blue outlining. Now that we had finished transforming, which I will point out right now, it only takes us a millisecond to do.

"Now it's our turn, you animal!" Stella announced, staring down the ogre with a fierce death glance.

"She's the girl with the sceptre." I heard a witch with blue hair that resembled a storm cloud tell the other two witches, obviously referring to Stella. She must've crossed their path before, or they wouldn't have noticed her as much. Before the ogre could charge again, I attacked first, only because I was too afraid that I would be knocked out cold before I even knew what happened. Hopefully I could be able to fight, I mean, I'd never know until I tried.

"Static Sphere!" I shouted, trapping the ogre in a ball of digital energy. I did it, I actually did it! That was the first step to knowing whether I could fight or not, being able to defend myself against an opponent. After he was trapped in my ball of digital energy, Musa attacked him next.

"Sonic Blast!" Musa shouted, and two magical speakers appeared in between my web. The sound was so intense that my digital web disappeared, and it left the ogre disoriented. Next, it was Flora's turn to attack the confused ogre.

"Golden Pollen." She blew pollen at the ogre's feet, and it grew into magical ivy. The ivy began to wrap around the ogre's feet, and swung him quite a distance away from us. I was fascinated by Flora's powers, they were very effective, yet harmless. Unfortunately our defending attacks on the ogre seemed to make the witches angry, and I anticipated as much.

"What a blockhead," The witch in blue scoffed, then she turned to us with an evilly frustrated look in her eyes, "All right, you weaklings, you asked for it!" She began to shoot shards of ice at us with her powers, and in a completely fearful instinct, I attempted to save the girls.

"Everybody, come behind me." I told them, but inside, I felt panicked, I wasn't sure if I was strong enough to hold off the witches attacks all on my own, but I was willing to try for my new friends, "Fire wall!" Shards of ice hit my shield, and I tried hard to force myself to stay on my feet. I knew I could be stronger than this, I just needed to keep my ground and focus.

"Sisters, leave them to me!" the witch with blue hair gathered lightening in her hands from the sky, and aimed straight for us. I tried to fight it but before I knew, I was shot backward, and hit my head, I felt so dizzy afterward. At that moment I knew we were done for, my life was so short, and so miserable. The one time I try to make a better life for myself and I barely last two days on my own. I had gotten this far and it wouldn't matter, we were goners. As we lie helplessly on the ground, the ice witch was going to finish us all off.

"And now prepare for the worst." the witch of ice had an evil, cold gleam in her eye, she was conjuring up her magic for the final strike when Stella managed to stand up, and threw her ring in the air.

"Solaria!" Stella shouted as her ring transformed into her sceptre. I could barely watch, but I wondered if she would be able to save us. The witch was ready to freeze us all, but before she could attack us, Stella used her sceptre. "Let's get outta here, girls!" A blinding yellow light shone around us, and we relocated far from the three witches.

"Stella? What was that?" Musa asked, confused.

"Just an emergency spell." Stella replied. I was still unsteady, so Flora helped me up as Stella continued to warm up Veranda.

"Are you all right? You look sick?" Flora asked me. I did feel incredibly dizzy, but I shouldn't have been sick.

"I'm fine Flora, I'm fine." I insisted as I had finally got up, and watched Stella warm Veranda, she was definitely worse off than I was.

"Bloom, are you all right? It's okay, you're safe now. You know Bloom, for an Earthling, I must admit you did really well. You were very brave." Stella rambled while using her magic to warm up her friend. I knew she wasn't Veranda of Callisto! I just needed Stella to say something like this and that would blow her cover. Though, to know this girl was from Earth was more shocking, how could she manage to get through Alfea's magical barrier?

"Stella?" we all yelled in unison as we leaned over her with scolding looks on our faces.

"Is there anything we should know about 'Bloom' of Callisto?" Flora asked her, with her hands on her hips.

"Uh, well.., I may have been fibbing a bit about Bloom's background. I'll explain everything on our way back to Alfea." Stella admitted as Bloom laughed a little.

"I knew it! Right from the start I had a hunch that you weren't Veranda of Callisto!" I shouted, "I just played along until I had enough evidence, and now I do."

"Please Tecna, don't rat me out." Bloom begged me helplessly.

"I won't need to do that, I'm sure Ms Griselda has already figured it out by now." I told her evenly, "No one can pull the wool over her eyes."

* * *

On the bus, Stella explained the whole story of this strange red head.

"So, I was being attacked by Knut, the ogre, in a park on Earth, and then I saw her. She totally kicked his ass with power that was out of that world. So I insisted that she go to Alfea. After a bit of convincing and a fierce battle between me, her, some Red Fountain guys, Knut and a troll, her parents let her go." Stella explained. I heard that Red Fountain was a boys' academy for Specialists, and it was across the forest from Alfea.

"Whoa, wait, you sent Red Fountain boys to Earth?" Musa asked.

"It was an emergency, plus I think Brandon had his eye on her." Stella smiled, "But anyway, we knew she wasn't going to get in, and it was a good thing that I just happened to have that note from the parents of the real Princess Veranda of Callisto, saying she was home schooling this year. So I told Ms Griselda that Bloom was Veranda and we were all set."

"Alfea's entry requirements should include photo identification." I replied, voicing the thought that was crossing my mind since I saw Bloom.

"Yes, then this wouldn't happen again. You know you can get in a lot of trouble for this, Stella." Flora added. Bloom looked like she regretted ever coming to Magix. And now that Flora had mentioned trouble, I had a sinking feeling that all of us were going to have a very unpleasant talk with Ms Griselda when we got back.

E

* * *

We quietly tip toed into Alfea's quad, we were all very tired, and I still needed to get ready for tomorrow. Today's ambush was definitely an interesting experience which I hope never to happen again, and I expected that we would be caught out here, sneaking back in.

"All right, the coast is clear." Stella slowly tiptoed toward the door. Suddenly, the quad lights came on, and Ms Griselda and Ms Faragonda stepped out from the school side doors.

"Do you have any idea what time it is?" Ms Griselda asked sternly after clearing her throat. I was only waiting for this to come, and as I anticipated, it did.

"Young ladies, we were worried sick." Ms Faragonda added, "Go to bed immediately, we'll discuss the rules again tomorrow." We walked past them to the doors, until Ms Griselda stopped Bloom.

"Not so fast, Princess Veranda!" she snapped, "Isn't there something you forget to tell us." We stopped cold in our tracks as we heard Ms Griselda's voice.

"All right, my name is Bloom and I'm from Earth." Bloom admitted.

"Ha, I knew it, you're not a real princess!" Ms Griselda scolded her, "Young lady, you have tricked us." I knew she was going to get punished, but at least her telling the truth wasn't as severe as it was for me. If I told anyone about my home life, they wouldn't treat her me the same, they would feel the need to help me any way they could, even if I didn't need it.

"True, but still, she must be a magical creature, or the barrier would've kept her out." Ms Faragonda pointed out, then she walked up to the redhead. "Now tell me Bloom, why didn't you give us your real name?"

"Well, I-" Bloom began before Stella interrupted her.

"Ma'am, this whole thing was my idea!" Stella confessed finally.

"It's okay, Stella." Bloom insisted, "I come from a small town on Planet Earth called-."

"Outside the realm of Magix?" Ms Griselda asked in shock, "Utterly impossible."

"I beg you, don't send me away. I've always wanted to be a fairy with all my heart, and now I can make my dream come true." Bloom pleaded. We all had to give her credit for the determination she had, going to another dimension just to fulfill a lifelong dream.

"You lied to us, and that is unforgivable!" Ms Griselda replied sharply.

"But she also has a dream and she totally believes in it. She has displayed a great tenacity, and isn't that a quality that every fairy should possess?" Ms Faragonda asked the head of discipline, I was glad Ms Faragonda was less strict than Ms Griselda. And I was happy that Bloom's lies where forgiven, and she could stay with us at Alfea. Despite my suspicions I liked Bloom.

"Yes, ma'am." Ms Griselda answered, defeated by the superiority of the headmistress.

"Now go to bed.., and don't make any more noise." Ms Faragonda told us.

"Yes, ma'am!" We all cheered as we headed to our dorm.

* * *

By the time we got to our dorm, I was very tired, but I managed to stay awake long enough to finish organize my things for the year. Then, Bloom announced a meeting in her room before we went to bed.

"Who?" we all asked in unison, curious at what she had just proposed. She asked us what we thought of the name 'Winx.'

"The Winx, us, I mean if we're going to be a group, we should have a name." Bloom explained, "Don't you think?"

"Actually, it's not a bad idea." I agreed, "A name is good for a quick reference."

"Its true, the three witches are the Trix, and we could be called something like… The Super 5, or The Stella 5… ooh I got it, the Airy Fairies!" Stella suggested, and I'm not lying when I say that Stella comes up with the worst ideas for group names.

"The.. the what?" Musa asked.

"The Airy Fairies, its short and sweet and it rhymes. What's wrong, you don't like it, Musa?" Stella asked our musical friend.

"Naw, sounds terrible." Musa admitted to Stella.

"I vote for Winx." Flora chimed in.

"Me too." Musa and I agreed together.

"Perfect.., because, you see, I've already come up with a logo, simple yet catchy." Bloom pulled out a piece of paper from her nightstand drawer, and Kiko snapped his fingers in approval and pulled out his own piece of paper that he painted on.

"This looks fantastic!" Stella cheered, assisting Bloom with holding it up. All I wanted to know was how she came up with it.

"Yes, but um… what does Winx mean?" I inquired. Was there some kind of meaning behind the name, did it stand for something, was it an acronym?

"Oh, nothing, just… Winx."

"I think what Bloom means to say, is that Winx is the power of friendship and the power of our magic together in one group." Flora explained.

"As great of a meaning as it is, you just made it sound really cheesy Flora." Stella told her bluntly, without thinking.

"But Flora did have a good point, it is a wonderful meaning, friendship and teamwork." Bloom agreed.

"Well, I'm going to bed, good night, girls." Musa began to walk out of Bloom and Flora's shared room, and I followed her. After saying good night to the girls, I put my pyjamas on, they consisted of a simple purple T-shirt with a double sided green arrow and matching green shorts, and slipped under the covers of my new bed. I could easily get comfortable, and I buried my face in the soft pillow, and took in all the changes of the last twenty-four hours. I suddenly had the same rush of emotions that I experienced last night, the feeling of anticipation, excitement, curiosity... I was in Alfea now, I had four new friends, and I ate pizza for the first time and loved it. Suddenly it hit me, everything that I was experiencing had finally caught up with me, and I felt my eyes water again. I couldn't be crying, I wasn't upset, it didn't make sense.

"Tecna, are you okay?" Musa asked from her bed, how could she hear me, I learned to cry silently since I was seven.

"I'm fine, Musa." I said simply.

"Hey, I can tell you're crying." She came over to my side of the room, and sat on the side of my bed.

"How did you know?" I asked her.

"Being a fairy of sound, I was born with sonar hearing; I could hear your sniffles loud and clear." Musa explained to me, "Now, what's going on?"

"Musa, can you cry when you're overwhelmed?" I asked her, I wasn't sure what to expect.

"Yes, you can, this is totally normal for anyone going through big changes in life?" Musa smiled at me warmly.

"Thanks, Musa." I answered as she got back into her bed, "Good night." I turned to my side as Musa returned a good night, and it seemed like I drifted off to sleep in seconds


	3. Alfea College For Fairies

**I had to do some cropping again after proof reading this chapter. This one has always been a bugger for me to do. I have so many ideas and they can't all fit into 10,000 words.**

 **All Episode Dialogue (c) Winx Club - Iginio Straffi and Rainbow S.r.i.**

* * *

 **Chapter Three: Alfea College for Fairies**

The next morning, the girls and I stood in front of the headmistress's desk, going over the rules again, this time in thorough detail. Once most of us, except Stella who was probably not even paying attention, understood the rules, we were dismissed. Though, as soon as I was midway through the door, Ms Faragonda stopped me.

"Tecna, I'd like to speak with you privately." She began, and I turned around sharply and sat in the chair in front of her desk as the rest of the girls left, "I don't think you realize just how important your safety is at this particular time, you came back to Alfea very late last night and I don't want to know what would have happened if you were left alone in Magix and came across any Cloud Tower witches, you would have no clue how to defend yourself. I'm speaking to you specifically because we don't know what your magic abilities are."

"Yes, Headmistress." I replied quietly, I couldn't tell her that we encountered three Cloud Tower witches last night, the girls would get in even more trouble than they were in already, and perhaps I would not be able to leave Alfea at all.

"So we've decided to put you in a one on one class with me, to assess your battle skills." Ms Griselda began as she entered the Headmistress's office.

"I emphasized that I didn't want any special attention." I reminded the headmistress and the head of discipline seriously.

"There is a big difference between special treatment and putting our students' safety and well being as first priority." Ms Faragonda explained firmly, "We just want to make sure you won't get hurt in the regular classes. We don't know how much you can handle."

"I can handle things just fine." I protested.

"Tecna, these things are out of your control, you don't know what you're capable of, and until then we are keeping you under strict supervision." The Alfea headmistress insisted gravely. Now I felt pathetic, I never estimated that I would need to be in a special battle class separate from everyone else.

* * *

Ms Griselda and I stood in an open area in the back of Alfea where the regular freshman classes would be held. Since it was only the start of the new school year, the battle classes hadn't started yet, it was all classroom work for now. This was a perfect opportunity to use the field for my assessment and to improve my skills at my own pace.

"Becoming a fairy takes a lot of the ability to fend off evil forces, and being able to defend yourself and others." Ms Griselda began firmly, "We know you have magic, however we don't know how much it's been used, that is why you are safer being taught alone. You'll be able to join the others next semester. Now, let's get started!" I transformed on her mark, and then she gave me the cue to dodge one of her attacks, it wasn't too hard to miss.

"Good, Miss Tecna, but that was only a moderate attack. Enemies will throw much stronger attacks and they do have great impact when they hit you." Ms Griselda warned me.

"I understand." I answered her.

"This is why we're starting you off easy, to assess where you're at. The fairies in the freshmen battle class would attack much harder than I did." She continued, "Now, the first instinct for you during an attack is to get out of the way, but I'm going to teach you to get into the habit of shielding yourself. I'm going to fire a stronger attack at you, and I want you to use a protection spell instead of dodging it. Go!" Ms Griselda instructed sharply, and I listened intuitively, flying to the mark on the battle field. She fired, and my first thought was to dodge it out of habit, but instead I put up a shield.

"Fire Wall!" It was the only shield that I knew, and as soon as Ms Griselda's attack hit it, it bounced back and vanished in her hand.

"Well done, Miss Tecna." She replied, she used stern tones for instruction like Dr. Tonson did, but I was never praised for anything.

"Thank you Ms Griselda." I replied with a slight smile.

"Now, this time, I want you to look away, and see how you fare with surprise attacks." Ms Griselda continued. This made me tremble, I wasn't ready for that!

"Ms Griselda, I'm not ready for that yet." I admitted nervously.

"The enemy is not going to tell you when they're firing an attack, they want you at your weakest moment, and right now, that could be right when you set foot on that battle field!" Ms Griselda told me in a very serious tone.

"Yes, ma'am." I sighed in defeat, given my present circumstance, she was right. I could get severely injured just by one blow, just from lack of experience. So without objection, I got into position, and she fired her strongest attack yet. Before I knew it, I was falling flat on my back, and was knocked unconscious…

* * *

I woke up feeling a gentle hand putting pressure on my forehead with a cold cloth, apparently I de-transformed, and just from squinting my eyes open, I could see that I was in Ms Faragonda's office laying on her couch.

"How do you feel, Tecna?" Ms Faragonda asked. "You took quite a blow."

"I.., did?" I was so dizzy at that moment that I didn't even want to sit up. I had no idea what happened.

"Honestly, Ms Griselda, go easy on the poor girl. We have no idea how strong she really is." I heard Ms Faragonda scold the head of discipline as I shut my eyes. Just the way she said it makes me look almost incapable, like I was different.

"The only way to get her ready for the world out there is if she knows what to expect, from what I have examined, she is a very weak fairy." Ms Griselda protested.

"And she will know what to expect, in time. We certainly can't rush these things if we're going to hurt her this way." Ms Faragonda insisted. With that, Ms Griselda left the room, irritated.

"I would send you to the infirmary, or back to your dorm, but someone might ask about that bump on your forehead. Just lay here until you can stand. Then, if you feel that you are able to, go to your next class." Ms Faragonda told me. "If you're insistent on keeping these training sessions a secret, then I urge you to fib a little. I promise you this won't happen again, I'll be taking over the sessions with you." The headmistress went back to her desk to do more paperwork, and after a while I was able to go to my next class. When I returned to the dorm, I was told to lay down a while longer, just in case the impact was worse than Ms Faragonda predicted. Musa suddenly came in the door, and I just told her I wanted to be alone for a bit to do some research, so she gladly took what she needed and left. After dinner, I snuck back into my room while the girls were still in our common area, Flora peeked her head in to ask how I was doing. I joined the conversation during dinner, although I told them I wanted to continue doing some research, and a bit of tinkering on a device I invented. I heard them asking why I was spending so much time alone, and Bloom came to the conclusion that it was my way of coping with being away from home, by surrendering myself with things that made me comfortable. I would just let them believe that to keep them satisfied.

* * *

At lunch the next day, they had to be serving soup! While the soup was being passed around, I politely declined my bowl and just had a cup of tea to fill me up, maybe I could get away with nibbling on a few crackers or an apple. I hadn't seen Bloom and Flora all morning, but suddenly they snuck into the dining hall through the crowd of people, and we turned in their direction, wondering where they had been. The expressions on their faces looked just as disappointed in the meal as I was.

"About time, what took you guys so long?" Stella asked after they sat down next to her and stared at their soup.

"My fault, I over slept." Bloom admitted, I felt the need to speak up, to keep my mind away from the aroma of soup.

"Watch out for Mistress Griselda, somehow I don't think she's a very nice person." I told them. Just the way she came across to me, she did not take things lightly. I had already found that out, so it was up to the rest of the girls to form their own opinions of Ms. Griselda.

"Young ladies, your attention please!" We suddenly heard Ms Faragonda announce, "As is the tradition among the Magix schools, the annual gala in honour of our new students will be held tonight. Students of the Alfea College for Fairies and the Red Fountain School for Magicians will gather here, in our castle, to perform the traditional welcome gift exchange ceremony!" As she finished, all the fairies in the dining hall began cheering and talking all at once.

"Silence, please!" Mistress Griselda scolded everyone, "Ms. Faragonda, our headmistress is speaking. Let's show a little respect!"

"Thank you Griselda," Faragonda continued, "one more thing I'd like to say, I am calling on all your creative minds to turn this ordinary looking hall into a festive ballroom. So today's classes are cancelled. Get to work, and do us proud!" This wasn't what I expected for my first week at Alfea, surely learning new skills and perfecting our strengths as fairies took precedence over a welcoming ceremony. It was final, I wasn't going, and even if the girls had to drag me down there, I had no interest in meeting anyone or dancing.

"I'm sure Prince Sky will be asking me to dance with him." Stella gushed, I've never actually seen the Prince of Eraklyon, even on the Realm Wide Web, so I didn't even know what he looked like.

"Does anyone else have a date?" Flora asked out of curiosity, "I don't but I'm always open for a dance. What about you, Musa?"

"I don't either, Flora," Musa answered.

"I'm not going." I told them.

"You can't miss out on this opportunity, Tecna!" Stella began begging, I knew that she was probably going to drag me down there if it was the last thing she did.

"Why not," I protested, "it's only logical that if one has no experiennce dancing or socializing, they shouldn't take part in an event in which such actions are required."

"Hey, we'll be with you." Flora replied as she gave me her cheerful, encouraging smile, and as if I was forced somehow, I smiled back at her, "You won't be embarrassed tonight, we promise."

"Thank you, Flora, I'll consider coming if I'm not left alone, but I'm still not sure." I continued to smile at them from where I sat as I took another sip of tea.

"Tecna!" I heard Ms Faragonda call to me, "I'd like to talk to you privately after lunch."

"Yes, ma'am." I answered casually as she walked toward our table.

"Why aren't you eating anything? A growing fairy needs her nourishment." Ms Faragonda asked me.

"With all due respect, headmistress, I've had soup for lunch for my entire life." I explained, "I must've had this specific type about one point six million times." Perhaps I was over exaggerating, but I at least I made my point.

"Well, you must eat something." She insisted as she closed her hands, and when she re-opened them, a plate of finger sandwiches appeared.

"Eat, Tecna, you need to build up you strength." She told me as she walked away, and I received looks of curiosity from everyone except my roommates.

"Is she physically challenged or something?" I heard someone say incoherently from down the table.

"Leave her alone!" Flora scolded, "You shouldn't be judging anyone by how they're being treated!" There it was, the exact thing I didn't want to happen, for people to look at me differently because of my past and inexperience.

"Its okay, Flora, I anticipated getting those types of reactions." I told her sincerely.

"No, it's not right to judge others. I just wish people felt just as strongly about that as I do." Flora sighed.

"I've only lived here in the Magical Dimension for a few days now, but I consider you guys tremendously lucky. On Earth, it's a lot worse, you would never believe the things that happened in Earth's history." Bloom admitted shameful.

"Okay, enough about judgemental people, let's just talk about the dance! I have this wonderful dress that I maxed out my credit card getting!" Stella cheered, she can be so self centred, but at this moment, I was willing to do anything to change the subject.

"We'd love to see it, Stella." Bloom replied.

"I have a dress that my mom gave me, it means a lot to me and I want to wear it to my first Alfea dance so that can feel her presence while I'm dancing to the music." Musa added.

"That's very profound, Musa, I'd like to see yours too." Flora replied, "I just got mine right here in Magix, it has a lovely floral design that I just adore!"

"Do you have a dress, Tecna?" Stella asked.

"I'm not attending the dance," I reminded them.

"Oh come on Tecna, it'll be fun," Stella pressed, "and I won't let you fall victim to a lack of good fashion!" I knew Stella would drag me by the arms to every dress store in Magix until she found one that was acceptable for her standards. Bloom, on the other hand, had been silent while we were talking about dresses, if anyone wanted Stella's help finding a dress, it was her.

"Is something the matter, Bloom?" Flora asked her, concerned.

"No, I'm okay Flora, I'm just thinking about the dance and if I'm going to see Brandon again." Bloom answered her.

* * *

After lunch, I went to see Ms. Faragonda for our private conversation. I had no idea what she wanted to talk about. I approached the door slowly, hoping she wasn't busy at the moment, and knocked.

"Come in!" she called from the other side of the door, and as I opened it, I saw her doing some paperwork at her desk.

"Ah, Tecna, right on time. I wanted to get you funded by the Education Council of Magix until you find a good job. So I got in contact with them, and we need to fill out a few forms for them to consider you for funding, but don't be intimidated by all this red tape, I'll help you with the paperwork and send it out immediately." The headmistress explained. I was a little worried by the fact that they wanted me to fill out forms to be even considered for funding, what if I was denied? She pulled out a file folder, and filled out a few spaces on the first form, but hen it came to the more complicated things, I began to have my doubts.

"What about where it says that I'm under nineteen and need to have a parent or legal guardian sign the form on my behalf?" I inquired.

"Don't you worry about that, Tecna, I'll act as your legal guardian in this circumstance, if we explain your situation to the Council, they will have no choice but to grant you funds until you can find a part time job." Ms Faragonda told me.

"I thought this matter was going to be kept confidential, you said so yourself that-" I began to worry, having Ms Faragonda know about my life was beginning to get very unsettling.

"In certain circumstances there are people that we are under law to inform about your situation. This is so that we can form a structured life for you in the future." Ms. Faragonda explained, "I will go through the process to become your legal guardian under the laws of Magix, that way anything concerning you will go through me first."

"But you are already a headmistress of a realm renowned college for fairies, you have more than enough on your plate." I protested.

"Tecna, you have gone through events that have affected your health and well being, the scars on your arms are evidence of physical abuse. You might need to show them to the authorities if we want things to get better for you."

"I understand all that, Ms. Faragonda, but I don't want anyone looking at what Dr. Tonson did to me." I told her, "I wanted to leave that all behind."

"You've made that very clear to us, unfortunately for that to happen, the laws will have to be obeyed." Ms Faragonda told me kindly, something in her tone told me I could trust her and she would do whatever it took to be true to her word, "I'll be sure to stress that, for your own safety, there will be you, me, and who ever needs to see the proof of your situation. You don't even need to say anything, I can speak for you if need be."

"Was that all you wanted to talk to me about?" I asked her.

"Actually, I have a feeling that you weren't expecting a formal dance in the first week of classes here, and you don't have any formal dresses." Ms. Faragonda guessed.

"Well, to be honest I wasn't planning to attend the gift exchange ceremony, I've never danced and I'm not that interested in meeting any boys." I admitted matter of factly.

"Nonsense, you have to at least try to experience a social gathering once in your life, this is what being in the real world is going to be like. Now, I have a dress that one of my old friends' daughters owned." Ms. Faragonda replied as she reached for a box on top of one of her bookcases. She set it down on her desk and took the dress out.

"This is mine to keep?" I asked as I stared at it in awe, now I felt obliged to go, to show my gratitude.

"Yes Tecna, it's yours to keep, enjoy it." The headmistress of Alfea answered sincerely.

"Thank you Ms. Faragonda, I know I said I wasn't going to attend, but now that I have suitable attire, it's the most logical thing to do." I replied honestly. She just smiled knowingly in response.

* * *

Later on that day, the girls and I were walking down the hallways of Alfea, and all that was on my mind was that we hadn't started actual classes yet, we were preparing for a back to school gala instead.

"Classes are canceled and this is just our second day?" I thought.

"What do we have to do for the party?" Bloom asked Stella, completely ignoring my statement about our classes. Sure, now I stuck out like a frayed wire.

"Easy Bloom, just get ready to have a ball!" Stella cheered.

"I'll provide the decorations." Flora announced, using her nature magic to make elegant vines appear on a pillar that stood by a nearby wall.

"And I'll take care of the music." Musa added as she rushed excitedly in front of us, "I mean, what's a party without dancing?"

"And I'll worry about what to wear, because clothes are important too." Stella piped in, typical Stella, always making a statement anywhere she goes. Once we were back in our dorms, I snuck into my room and tried on the dress that Ms. Faragonda gave me. I looked proudly in the mirror by my bed, staring at my reflection. Suddenly I heard an excited yell from outside my room.

"Come see my dress, girls! It's absolutely fabulous!" Stella called, Musa, who had changed in the washroom, and Stella, went into Bloom and Flora's room so we could show each other our dresses. I noticed that Bloom was still in her clothes and Stella had her back turned with the dress in her arms.

"Like I said, I'll worry about what to wear, because clothes are important too, and of course I refuse to go unnoticed." She announced, finally turning around and showing us the dress, "Well, what do you think?"

"It's gorgeous." Bloom replied in awe.

"Mind you, it wasn't cheap. But look at it, it was calling me from the shop window, buy me, buy me please!" Stella told us, spreading her hands out as if they were pressed up against glass.

"And of course you answered its plea." Musa replied sarcastically, breaking Stella from her trance, "How very noble of you."

"Well, I'm bound to make an impression." Stella boasted confidently.

"I hear the guys from Red Fountain are really cute." Flora chimed in, but I couldn't care less, I was only going now because I wanted to show my gratitude to Ms. Faragonda.

"Guys, as if I care about that." I just shrugged, Musa turned to me and gave me a sarcastic look that asked why I had the sudden change of mind.

"Then why are you dressed like an absolute diva?" She scoffed.

"That's besides the point, you attend a ceremony, you dress accordingly." I stated matter of factly.

"Yeah, sure." Stella began to joke, what was that supposed to mean? I would've said something back, but Bloom interrupted just in time.

"Um.., sorry, but.., do you think they'll let me in dressed like this?" Bloom asked us. I kind of felt bad for Bloom, she was the one just discovering that she is a fairy, getting adjusted to using magic and the idea of it, all this is a parallel universe to her. She needs much more help than I do, and yet I was the one getting all of it.

"Aw, Bloom." Flora acknowledged her, turning toward the redhead.

"You don't have a dress, no problem. There's a solution to everything, and in this case it's called.., shopping!" Stella announced cheerfully, getting excited about even the thought of buying a new article of clothing.

"Okay then, let's go!" Bloom agreed, and we went to change and head out to Magix.

* * *

On the bus, Stella went on and on about all the best stores, the highest quality brands, and all the sales she knew of. Musa had been staring out the window for the majority of the trip, until she turned toward me.

"I don't get it, Tecna, you were so dead set on not going to the dance, but now that you got that dress, you are going for no reason at all." She inquired, "Where did you get it anyway?"

"It was a hand me down." I fibbed, it was true that the dress was handed down, but not by a relative, "I wanted to show my gratitude by wearing it."

"I'm sorry I was a total bitch earlier." She admitted with a sigh, "it was uncalled for."

"It's okay, Musa." I told her, and Flora gave us a happy smile from where she sat.

* * *

The bus stopped in downtown Magix, and from out the window I could see an abundance of clothing stores, all of them looked very expensive. Bloom was very intrigued by all the various dresses and ran up to the window of one of the stores, placing her hands on the glass in amazement.

"All right, Bloom, this is our first stop." Stella announced as we entered the shop. Bloom picked out a pink dress. As she opened the curtain to reveal herself, she turned around to let us view the front and back.

"No, darling, just no." Stella protested, "The look is good but the colour is just too much with your hair. Not to mention it shows way too much cleavage for a school dance."

"Okay girls, this dress is obviously way too revealing, and I'm sure the facility at Alfea would agree, on to the next one." Bloom replied. After about fifteen minutes, we couldn't find anything else in her price range, so we decided to go on to the next store. Stella and Bloom went in, and we met near the change rooms as Bloom walked out wearing a plain yellow dress, she stood waiting for our input as the saleswoman adjusted the bottom for her. Stella shook her hand in protest and Flora responded with a very disgusted look on her face. Bloom sighed in disappointment and went back in. Minutes later, she came out again in a blue dress.

"How about this one?" Bloom asked, stepping out from the change room. In an instant, we all agreed that overall it was the best we could get, until Bloom looked at the price tag.

"Mmm, too expensive." Bloom sighed as she slid back the curtain to the change room.

"I'll pay for it." Stella offered, pulling out the credit card that she said was maxed out.

"No, Stella, you might offend her." Flora told her, and Stella put the card away. I couldn't understand why Bloom would be offended by the generosity. After approximately an hour and a half of searching, it was time to get back to Alfea, and we were still empty handed.

"Now what?" Bloom sighed, we were now standing outside of the line of stores.

"Well..." Flora began wracking her brain for something to tell the redhead fairy to brighten her spirits, but couldn't think of anything.

"It's getting kinda late, Bloom." Stella finished Flora's thought, and Bloom began to look discouraged, I hoped that somehow she would find a nice dress to wear tonight, and in a worst case scenario, I could always keep her company. Although I'm sure she would much rather participate in the dance than sit on the sidelines with me.

"Yeah, we got to get back to Alfea." I stated as we began to walk to the bus stop down the street, but we turned back to make sure she was okay with being left behind.

"You'll be all right?" Flora asked, she was always concerned about her friends and it was something I would have to get used to, it was just in her nature.

"Don't worry, I'll find something." Bloom called as she raced off in the direction of a new area of stores that we didn't have time to look at.

"Do you girls think we should follow her?" Flora asked.

"Oh you're such a worry wart, Flora, she'll be fine." Stella reassured us, "She has me on speed dial for fashion guidance, and just in case something else goes wrong. Trust me, would I leave a new girl in the city of Magix all by herself at this time of day?"

"I would hope not." I heard Musa utter as she walked beside me, I wasn't that good at reading emotions, but based on her attitude today, I was beginning to suspect something was bugging her. On the way back to Alfea, I was sitting next to Flora, while Musa sat alone.

"Flora, how exactly was it offensive for Stella to pay for the dress Bloom wanted? Wasn't it meant to be a friendly gesture?" I inquired.

"Of course it was, Tecna," She explained, "but it wasn't about the offer, it was the fact that if Stella did buy the dress, Bloom would feel obligated to make it up to her somehow. She would feel guilty until that debt is paid."

"I see." I replied, then we looked at the Solarian Princess, who obviously heard the whole thing.

"I'm sorry, okay! I wasn't thinking, and besides I couldn't buy it anyway. I remembered I maxed out my card when I bought my own dress." She protested in defence.

"I wasn't pointing fingers, Stella, I was simply explaining to Tecna about the situation." Flora reassured her.

"Oh, okay then." Stella said calmly, continuing to file her fingernails.

* * *

When Musa and I got our dresses on, I turned towards her as she was staring deeply at her reflection in the mirror.

"Musa, can I ask you something?" I began.

"Yeah, what?" She answered, snapping out of her thoughts and facing me.

"I usually don't notice these things, but is anything bothering you today?" I continued slowly.

"Ms. Faragonda asked me to perform a saxophone piece in front of the crowd tonight, I wanted to wear this dress so that I could feel my mother's presence, it encourages me." Musa explained, "But now I keep thinking about the fact that she's gone.., it makes me miss her even more. That's why I've been so bitchy, and I'm sorry." I tried forcefully to think about how that must feel, I never remembered having a mother, I didn't know how to respond.

"Well I'm sure your mom wouldn't want you to feel depressed during your first school dance." I told her.

"You're right Tecna, music makes us happy, and she will be proud of me for taking on this performance, and that if she could, she would be in the audience." She replied, a smile making its way onto her face.

"I know you'll do great." I told her before a moment of silence, then I pulled up my boots and looked proudly in the full length mirror I hid behind my closet. After everyone was done getting ready, we met in the common room, and still there was no sign of Bloom.

"Anything from Bloom yet, Stella?" Musa asked.

"Actually, Bloom just texted me saying she found a nice blue dress on sale! On sale, girls, how could I miss that? Honestly I must be losing my touch!" Stella cried over-dramatically.

"Never mind that Stella, at least Bloom will meet us downstairs when she's ready." Flora replied.

"So are we going now?" Musa asked, sounding a little impatient, I could tell just the thought of being up in front of the entire student bodies of both Alfea and Red Fountain was making her uneasy.

"Yeah, we should get down there." I insisted. We arrived at the dinning hall, now decorated with vines and flowers curtesy of our nature loving fairy herself, and everyone at Alfea was there already.

 **Timmy's Point of View**

The entire student body of Red Fountain entered the room in two straight single file lines, then began to get less tense as they piled in. Riven and Sky had added to the bet they made on me, that not only would I go to Alfea's back to school gala, but Sky would be sure that I would meet a girl, whereas Riven was pretty sure I didn't have the balls to stay in the room for more than five minutes. I used this bet to my advantage, a perfect opportunity to find Tecna, and introduce myself to her. Seeing the room begin to crowd up, I scouted the area to look for her, when suddenly I saw her slowly wandering toward the outside of the room. She looked even more mind blowing in person than on a computer screen. I was so focused on watching her that I didn't notice how close to her I was getting, and before I knew it I had knocked her to the ground and her palmtop flew from her grasp.

" _Nice going, klutz_." I thought to myself, "Oh... I'm so sorry."

"It's okay." She answered quietly as she picked up her palmtop. I knew she was just going to walk away, so I had to think of something, anything to start a conversation.

"So, your name is Tecna?" I asked her hesitantly.

"Yes, Tecna Logica..." She answered, then she began looking around for something, or maybe someone.

"Oh... I'm sorry." I mumbled once I noticed that she didn't seem interested in a conversation.

"For what?" She asked me, I was getting increasingly nervous with each passing second. What was I going to say?

"I don't know.., I just thought..." I began to stutter again, fidgeting with my hands. " _Oh Great Dragon, you guys are going to pay for this if I embrace myself in front of Tecna just because of your idiotic bet._ "

"Don't worry about it," She reassured me, "So what is your name?" Wait, she wants to know my name? I was stumbling on my words so much that they just came out in a string of nonsense.

"Um, is Timothy my name... I mean Timothy my name is... I mean... damn it." I stuttered hastily in an effort to make sense of what I wanted to say, and failed miserably, " _Damn it, Timmy, you socially inept moron_!"

"Hi, Timothy." She answered me with a sincere smile, and after a long pause of awkward silence, I insisted that she just call me Timmy.

"Okay Timmy, so what are you interested in?" She didn't sound too enthusiastic about talking to me, but for some reason she was doing it anyway. I finally assumed that she just wanted to kill time until the gala was over, and I felt the same way.

"Nothing too interesting, just some computer crap that would probably bore you to death, my work is very primitive compared to anything you've ever seen." I confessed.

"Do you do any research, inventing, what about troubleshooting software issues?" She inquired, suddenly expressing her passion for what I thought would be child's play compared to her abilities.

"That's exactly what I do." I answered enthusiastically, Tecna sounded so genuinely interested in what I did in my spare time and I assumed she dabbled in it a little bit herself.

"Why would you think that I'd be bored talking about that? I spend most of my time doing the exact same thing." She asked me with a slight laugh. Just looking at her made me more and more nervous, and now knowing she had something in common with me was even more anxiety inducing. I stood there, not realizing that I was beginning to hyperventilate, and just as suddenly I could feel something wet and warm running down my pants. I swore under my breath so Tecna couldn't hear the profanity, and turned to get out of there as soon as possible.

"I'm sorry... I should go." I excused myself and ran into the crowd. Thankfully I was able to escape the gala without being seen, and find a bathroom. It was strange being in a girls' washroom, but Alfea's faculty gave the Red Fountain students and staff permission to use their facilities for the dance. I hid in one of the stalls, and I wasn't sure what to do now. I did not have a change of clothes and there was no way I could be able to leave Alfea without being spotted. Just then I heard footsteps coming into the room.

"Timmy, you pathetic wuss, come out!" It was Riven of all people, fantastic.

"Crap." I mumbled through gritted teeth when he opened the bathroom stall I was in.

"This is absolutely perfect," he couldn't contain his laughter when he realized the situation I was in, "you know, I would congratulate you for getting the balls to talk to a girl, but you pissed yourself. Now this gives me the perfect opportunity to mess with you after losing that bet."

"Please Riven, please don't do it." I pleaded, practically on my urine drenched knees, but it was too late, he was already at the door, about to announce to the entire gala that I had wet myself. I tried begging him to stop again, but he was already down the hallway and I didn't really feel like moving.

"Hey everyone," I finally heard Riven announce, "guess who pissed his pants!" I felt the heat rush through my cheeks as hysterical laughter rang out from down the hall. Moments later, Brandon ran into the bathroom behind Riven.

"Riven, you are such an immature jerk! I'm ashamed to be on the same Red Fountain squad as you!" He shouted back in complete disgust, "Are you all right, Timmy?"

"Do you think I'm okay?" I asked sarcastically, "Thanks to this jackass, I'll never be able to show my face in public again!"

"Mission accomplished." I heard Riven chuckle from outside the row of stalls.

"Well I just happen to have a backup Red Fountain uniform, just in case." Brandon told me, and I sighed in great relief.

"Thanks, I'll do your homework for a year!" I replied with an embarrassed grin on my face.

 **Tecna's Point of View**

I guessed that Timmy got too nervous and did end up hiding in the bathroom, unfortunately whoever found him was not very forgiving. With that in mind, I had a feeling that Timmy was not coming back, nor would he set foot on Alfea's grounds again after this humiliation. Musa ran up to me after we all heard the embarrassing announcement.

"I can't believe the nerve of that guy!" She shouted furiously, "How could he do such a thing?"

"Do you know who he is?" I inquired.

"Yeah, he spilled punch on my mother's dress!" Musa continued to shout, pointing at the Specialist with burgundy hair in a spiked up hairstyle that had embarrassed Timmy.

"So, did you catch his name?" Flora asked, joining us after socializing with another group of fairies and Specialists.

"His name is Riven, we were getting along for a while until we started arguing over music tastes." Musa answered, "Quite frankly I don't want to see him again anyway if he is this type of arrogant jerk."

"Well guess who I just happened to see chatting it up with a guy.., Tecna. Dressing accordingly for a ceremony, my ass!" Stella chimed in, running towards us with this juicy gossip, "But based on popular opinion, he's not the guy for you, he can barely keep his pants dry."

"If I told you once, I told you more than enough times, I'm not interested in a relationship." I insisted, "I was just killing time until this whole thing is over!"

"I'll believe that when I wear a turtleneck in public." Stella snorted with laughter, and when the girls saw that I was grinning widely, they giggled. Although the laughing stopped abruptly as we heard Bloom's voice calling us.

"Girls, Yoo-hoo!" she yelled, running toward us. The girls broke their focus on me, and turned to her.

"We were starting to worry." I admitted.

"What took you so long?" Flora added.

"This is crucial, come over to the hallway, I have something really urgent to tell you but I don't want to spread a panic." Bloom whispered, and so we followed her to one of the rooms leading to the hallway, where we were hid away by curtains.

"Okay, no one can hear us now, what do you want to tell us?" Flora asked.

"This is an emergency!" Bloom began, "The witches are here."

"What are you talking about?" Stella asked in surprise.

"Icy, Darcy and Stormy have cast a spell on the presents from Red Fountain." Bloom continued, "I heard them talk about something called a snake rat." That sounded familiar to me, they were a creature I just happened to study while being homeschooled.

"Snake rat…"I thought aloud, I had to do some research to refresh my memory, but from what I recall, snake rats were notorious for creating mass chaos. "Mmm, let me consult my database." When I focused hard enough, an archive made from technology magic shot from my palm, displaying an image of what a snake rat looked like. "Snake rats, swamp creatures of the disgusted Philliis genus. They eat toads-" At the very thought of an entire chest full of snake rats that would jump at numerous unsuspecting fairies, I shuddered. And worst of all, the boys would be blamed.

"Thank you Tecna, we get the picture." Stella interrupted me before I could go on, "Slimy, vicious and venomous... like the witches. But, what's in it for them?" I wondered the exact same thing.

"Stella, let me finish, the witches want to provoke a huge panic and use it as a diversion, to get their hands on _your_ ring." Bloom continued informing us with increasing worry in her voice.

"Mm, that's quite the sneaky plan." Musa thought, "We've got to stop the eggs from being handed out."

"Ugh, too late," Flora gasped in fear, "look!" She pointed out to the ballroom, where Prince Sky and Timmy were bringing out the gifts. I didn't think I'd see him again, he looked tense, but no one laughed when they saw him coming. I give him credit for staying to hand out the traditional gifts.

"For you, ladies, I hope you like them." Sky replied politely as Timmy opened the chest of eggs. We watched them closely from where we stood in the hallway, wondering where the snake rats were hiding.

"Egg surprises." Musa pondered.

"Yes, and the surprise is a very cuddly snake rat." Bloom added sarcastically.

"We need a counter-spell and fast. Come on, let's form a circle." Stella instructed as we began holding hands, "Repeat after me."

"What it once was, let it be again!" We repeated numerous times as our magic rose from our circle and swerved around fairies' and Specialists' feet. Then the magic covered the chest of eggs, returning them to their former state. Sky noticed the sudden light, but ignored it as he took an egg and passed it to a random Alfea fairy. She opened it to reveal little yellow butterflies.

"Oh wow." The fairies cooed as the butterflies escaped from the de-spelled eggs. After performing the counter-spell, we all used quite a bit of magical energy. When we least expected it, Sky snuck up behind Stella with one of the eggs, surprising her.

"I hope this egg brings you luck." He told her in a voice I could assume was intended to be flirtatious, while popping it up in front of her face. Now that she was aware of what used to be in the eggs, being so close to one of them completely turned her off.

"I guess I'll find out soon enough if it does or not." She answered him unenthusiastically, trying very hard to hide the fact that the gift he was giving had once been sabotaged by witches, and a snake rat resided in it instead of butterflies.

"Let me see it." Musa insisted, grabbed the egg right from Stella's hands and observing it, "Flora, are you thinking what I'm thinking by any chance?"

"I am indeed, and I've studied Professor Palladium's lesson very well." Flora answered as Sky watched us, confused.

"It's all yours, Flora." Musa told her before handing the egg over safely from her hands.

"And now I'll make a little surprise blossom for our three witchy little friends." Flora said as she cast her spell, from where I was standing, I could slightly see a shadow within the egg but I couldn't quite tell what she put inside.

"What did you do to the egg?" Bloom asked with curiosity.

"I'll tell you later, meanwhile, I want you to run and get changed, it's getting late." Flora told our redhead friend.

"I would, Flora, but what about the witches, aren't you curious to know how they even got into Alfea?" Bloom asked us.

"Yeah, I am kind of curious to know how they managed to sneak in." Musa replied.

"My dress was too long, and I couldn't find a pair of scissors. I thought I opened a storage room but what I actually discovered was connected passageways from their school to ours." She explained as we headed in the direction of where she knew where the door to the passage was. Bloom opened the door, and just as she described, there it was, steps leading down to an underground tunnel.

"That explains how the witches got to Alfea, but are they still hanging around?" Stella thought out loud.

"Let's not worry about that until we know for sure," Flora suggested, "Why don't we just enjoy the rest of the night.".

"I got a million different pairs of scissors for every type of fabric imaginable Bloom. You can borrow mine!" Stella offered, and she and Bloom left as the rest of us returned to the dining hall.

* * *

As I sat quietly on the sidelines, taking slow sips from a cup of fruit punch, I began to hear incoherent mumbling coming from not so far away, and as I turned, I witnessed something no one else would find as horrifying as I would. There stood a Specialist with dark green hair in a similar style to Prince Sky's, and he was about to toss his cell phone clear across the ballroom, I had to stop him.

"Stop!" I yelled, grabbing on to his wrist so he couldn't continue to destroy his phone.

"What's it to you?" He asked me irritably.

"I'm very good with electronics, I can help." I offered sincerely.

"Okay, I'm supposed to get an important email from Saladin about some upcoming classes. I just got an update on my new phone and now I can't access my school email account." He explained to me, passing me his cellphone. I stared at it, trying not to laugh while thinking this guy was a complete moron.

"You do realize you're trying to access your personal email account with your school email's password, right?" I told him as I went into the settings and added his school email account to the database as he watched me closely, "Now it should be in your email application." And just as expected, his school email account was there along with his personal one, and there was the email from Headmaster Saladin that he was trying to access.

"You got to teach me these tricks." He insisted.

"It's just common sense. I'll teach you, if you pay attention and don't destroy your phone." I agreed with slight irritation.

"You must be a technology fairy or you wouldn't be making such a big deal out of it." He replied with a shrug, "What is your name anyway?

"Tecna." I answered his question simply, and received a look from him.

"That's a pretty cliche name for a technology fairy." He scoffed, "The name's Damian. Can I get your number so I can contact you if I need a crash course on this techno mumble-jumbo?" I gave him a nod, even though I was just insulted, and he put my pager number in his cellphone.

"I guess you'll call me when you need me, Damian." I told him as he slipped into the crowd. Suddenly Flora was able to find me, followed by Musa,

"Tecna, who was that you were talking to?" She asked me curiously.

"No one Flora, I just had to prevent him from completely destroying his cellphone." I explained simply, but just left the nature fairy with a puzzled expression on her face. Moments later, Stella returned from helping Bloom find a pair of scissors.

"Okay, Bloom's got her scissors. Now hopefully we can still dance!" she replied excitedly.

"Maybe you can find Prince Sky before the night ends." Flora suggested, "Hey, wait, I think I see Bloom outside!"

"That's not right, she should be upstairs fixing her dress." Stella pondered as Flora and Musa went to the gigantic window on the side of the ballroom to watch, in case Flora was right.

"Poor Bloom, the witches have got her cornered!" She confirmed it, Bloom was outside, and she needed our help.

"What's going on?" I asked worriedly.

"Bloom's in trouble!" She answered, we were about to go and help her when Ms Faragonda came up to us.

"Young ladies," She called as we all turned our attention to her. "It's time to offer our guests, come and join the others and Musa will play something for us." Musa's face went pale with nervousness, this was the moment she was most dreading throughout the entire night.

"Just remember what I told you." I reminded her, "Your mom would have loved to see you play, make her proud." After a few deep breaths, and those encouraging words, Musa was ready to preform and she hesitantly walked on stage.

"I have been practising my saxophone for years and I am very passionate about what I play, and this piece is dedicated to my mother, who was just as passionate about music as I am, and who I miss everyday." She explained before grabbing her saxophone as fairies gave her smiles of encouragement and support, while the Specialists cheered her on. As Musa began playing, the entire room became silent, it was such a peaceful melody, something that I never heard before. It gave me a sensation of something I couldn't describe, it felt good, as if she was focusing on all the positive memories of her mother while playing her saxophone. After she finished, the entire room roared with applause and she stepped off the stage, heading toward us.

"That was so great, Musa!" Stella shrieked happily.

"Thanks, I really couldn't have thought about it without Tecna, as you may have noticed I was sort of in a bad mood earlier, but after talking it out with Tecna I realized that I could look at this in a more positive way." Musa replied proudly.

"I didn't do much." I admitted simply.

"But you were there to listen, and that's all a person really needs." Flora told me, "Oh no, we totally forgot about Bloom! I hope she's okay!"

"What's with the big icicles outside?" a random fairy ran in from outside, and the four of us gasped in horror. We sprinted out to the forest as quickly as we could to find her crawling out from underneath sticks of ice.

"Bloom!" Stella shouted when we finally caught up to her. She smiled brightly as she turned to face us.

"Bloom," Flora asked her, "goodness, are you okay?"

"Yes, I'm still in one piece, but where were you all?" Bloom asked us. I couldn't believe she faced the witches by herself and didn't get frozen, how was that even possible?

"We couldn't get away from the headmistress." Stella answered. I could definitely tell that the witches had been here, it was quite obvious due to the destruction that was caused. The ground was split down the middle and looked like what I suspected was an ice rink, and the trees were completely covered in icicles.

"Is everything all right?" I asked her curiously.

"Well, I did manage to get away from them again." Bloom answered.

"You know, you ran quite a risk." I interrupted her, knowing that beginners like us were the ones most unlikely to survive attacks as harsh as the withes'.

"I know, but but they have Stella's ring, I was just trying to get it back." Bloom protested.

"Don't worry, Bloom, the ring is perfectly safe." Flora reassured her with a knowing look on her face.

"What do you mean, tell me?" Bloom insisted impatiently.

"Not now, I'll tell you when you get your dress on." Flora began pushing Bloom playfully into the school as the rest of us followed them. The redhead fairy once again ran upstairs as we walked back into the ballroom, and waited for her to make her grand entrance.

* * *

Approximately fifteen minutes later, Bloom stepped into the room, and all eyes were on her, everyone was talking about her dress. Fairies and Specialists lined the way for her as if she was a princess, she might as well be, for tonight at least. I mean, she finally got her fairytale story she expected Magix would be. Bloom smiled brightly as she reached our place in the ballroom.

"How do I look?" she asked.

"Beautiful as a spring flower." Flora told her kindly, placing her hands on Bloom's arms as if she was about to hug her, but she didn't.

"You know, you never told me what you did to the egg." Bloom replied. I was hoping Flora would finally tell her, she was waiting in anticipation and it would have prevented all the trouble of her trying to save a ring that wasn't in danger of being stolen in the first place.

"Simple, while you were getting dressed, I did a little magical switcheroo with the egg and the ring, which now lies in a safe place, right Stella?" Flora explained to Bloom.

"Right." Stella added.

"I'd love to see Icy's face when she opens the shell, and a swarm of beautiful butterflies comes out, instead of that ring she's trying so desperately to get her paws on." Bloom replied with humour in her voice.

"Well, that's not quite how it's gonna go." Flora admitted with a slight laugh.

"Still it'll be funny." Stella began giggling too at the plan that Flora had in mind for the ice witch, and it didn't take long before we all began laughing. Later, I sat on a bench, watching Bloom, when Brandon tapped her on the shoulder and offered his hand. They began dancing around the floor as we watched. As I watched, I began to wonder about what experiences I would encounter in my first year at Alfea. It was definitely something huge and full of discoveries, but watching Bloom, who was a lot like me in a way, where her magic potential had been unused for the majority of her life, I began to think of all the paths our magical journeys would possibly take us.


	4. The Black Mud Swamp

**I have addrd a couple things to this chapter but nothing too significant. Mainly Stella's discriminating comment towards Tecna and a small scene at the end continuing on with how Timmy attempts to keep his own secret.**

 **Winx Club Episode Dialogue (c) Iginio Straffi And Rainbow S.r.l**

* * *

 **Chapter Four: The Black Mud Swamp**

The Friday after the gala, the girls and I sat in Professor Palladium's class during our first week of lessons. This was the only class I was having difficulty understanding, only because I was one of the fairies who's magic did not originate from nature in any way. Flora and Bloom excelled in this class, and even Musa found it easy to follow because nature provided all sorts of sounds. In this class, we had to use our fairy instincts to achieve certain goals pertaining to nature and watching out for its warnings, but how was I supposed to do that when nature was the complete opposite of technology? I sighed deeply, listening to Professor Palladium's announcement about next Monday's class.

"Next week, we will be going to Black Mud Swamp for an off campus lab, during which you will be split up into groups, and you will have to use your instincts to navigate your way around the swamp and meet at a designated location." Professor Palladium explained, " I will go over the instructions of this assignment again once we arrive at the swamp. I have already picked out your teams, they are posted on the door outside the classroom. Have a great weekend." And with that, the entire classroom swarmed out in a tremendous hurry. I was just about to leave and go find the others, when the professor stopped me. It seemed that was happening a lot since I attended Alfea.

"Tecna, may I speak to you for a minute?" I turned around and sat in the desk closest to me, "Ms Faragonda has made the facility of Alfea well aware of your disadvantages and that you're not that experienced when it comes to magic use," he began, and I couldn't help but grit my teeth in frustration, I felt like I was going to be treated like I was some naive little child who couldn't think for herself, I could handle a simple teamwork exercise, "This is why I'm concerned about how you're going to fare in an environment with no technology. Normally fairies your age with powers deriving from unnatural sources have at least some kind of experience going some time without a source to draw their powers from. Flora, Bloom, Stella and even Musa have powers that can be drawn from nature, you on the other hand, do not. So I am giving you special permission to use one of your small devices to draw your powers from if you ever feel magically weakened."

"With all due respect, Professor Palladium, I don't want this special permission, but I appreciate your concern." I fibbed, I actually didn't like this treatment, being pulled away after class to have private conversations with the teachers about just how weak and inexperienced I really am, the more I was reminded, the more humiliating it got.

"I understand you want to be just like everybody else in the class, however, what we don't want is for you to create a bigger scene by passing out in complete magical exhaustion in the middle of the swamp and having your teammates drag you back to me. Wouldn't that be even more humiliating than having a special precaution?" The professor asked me, and sure enough, he was right. If I didn't have anything to draw my magic from for a long period of time, my powers would weaken and I wouldn't be at my best during this assignment.

"Yes it would be more humiliating, you're right." I sighed once more. I just hoped that after all this was over, that I could live life like a normal fairy, and not some helpless victim.

Monday came very quickly for me, however I spent most of the weekend thinking about what Professor Palladium told me after class on Friday, so I carried my PDA in my pocket, for when I felt myself get weaker. At this moment, I stood by the rest of the girls and my classmates, and just as he said he would, Professor Palladium refreshed us on the instructions of the assignment.

"So, as I was saying, today's exercise will be rather difficult." He was about to begin his lesson, when he was interrupted by one of our classmates.

"Professor Palladium, a mosquito just bit me!" She complained, with this knowledge, I stood very still as numerous amounts of those insects swarmed around us. During the weekend, I took the time to research the swamp environment and its inhabitants, and one of the things I happened to learn about were mosquitos. Although not deadly, they were known to be a nuisance. I just hoped that if I stood there and left them alone, they would do the same. Though I did prepare myself by bringing bug spray.

"Yes, well we are near a swamp and it's just a mosquito, no big deal." Professor Palladium reassured her, and next to her, I could hear her friend giggling, as if they knew something we didn't.

"But look where it got me!" Our classmate cried out, lifting up her pant leg and making Professor Palladium very uncomfortable. At the sight of the mosquito bite on her leg, the professor began stuttering, trying to keep his composure.

"Oh my! Uh, well what I meant was… uh... to be short and to… the point…" As he tried to collect himself, the rest of the girls in our class continued laughing at his insecurity.

"Poor Professor, they shouldn't give him such a hard time." Bloom whispered to Stella.

"If he were more confident, he'd get more respect." Stella whispered back in a little louder tone. After a minute of immature laughter from the class, Professor Palladium was able to continue his lesson.

"A good fairy must be able to listen to what nature tells us. Today's exercise is designed to put your skills to the test. Now, you've all been put into groups so we're ready to begin. You have three hours to get out of Black Mud Swamp, and reach the clearing in the middle of Gloomy Wood Forest, without using magic. Remember, listen carefully to the voice of nature, and follow its advice." That was all he could tell us before suddenly vanishing, leaving everyone in the class distraught, especially me. After a moment of silence, the three groups headed in separate directions. The five of us, Bloom, Stella, Flora, Musa and I, began walking until the ground beneath our feet became like liquid, as if we were walking in mud of some kind. We tried to shake it from our boots, groaning in frustration.

"This place is… ew… totally disgusting!" Stella complained, trying to move in the mud.

"Oh yes dear," Musa mocked her, ironically, Stella told us how mud was good for the skin, "All this mud is so very inconvenient." This made Bloom and Flora giggle. I didn't care much about the inconvenience of the mud, I was more concerned with our surroundings. Only using my eyes, I discovered we were in fact in the middle of a gigantic mud puddle, more like a mud lake.

"I don't know if you realize it, but we're knee deep in what I'd refer to as a problematic mud puddle." I informed them. I wasn't sure what to do, my instincts told me I had to deflect the mud somehow, "All right you guys, take cover! I'll handle its ." As I was about to use my magic, Bloom stopped me.

"No, Tecna don't!" Bloom called, and I immediately is the halted my magic, "We have to listen to nature. I smell something, what is it?" She began sniffing the air as I put my arms down.

"He said listen, not smell." Stella replied as a bubble started to grow in front of her. Suddenly, bubbles started to rise up all around us, "Kinda smells like-"

"Smells like... gas!" Musa panicked, "Let's get out of here!" We all ran out of the mud puddle, and hid behind a fallen log. Seconds after hiding, we peaked from behind the log, and suddenly Bloom picked up a small branch. I wasn't exactly sure what she was thinking, but I knew she was better at listening to the voice of nature than I was.

"Okay, let's go see." Bloom threw the piece of the branch at one of the bubbles, and when it hit, the bubble exploded. Grey gas filled the puddle as the other bubbles began to explode in a chain reaction.

"A single spark and we'd have been toast, my friends." Bloom stated as she saw the result of the explosions. I watched, just as amazed as everyone else, maybe even more so because I had never seen this before. All I knew was that there was mud, and lots of it.

"Oh, yes we took a big risk." Flora replied, watching the gas disintegrate in the air.

"Especially you, Tecna, I would've sent you my dressmaker's bill." Stella told me as the rest of the girls began laughing. I didn't think that was so funny at all.

"Stella, I consider myself extremely lucky to be attending these classes, I barely had enough to pay for my tuition." I pointed out as I got off the ground, and the rest of the girls fell completely silent.

"Was your family poor, Tecna?" Musa asked me, a look of familiarity in her eyes.

"No, they just needed the money for technological research purposes." I fibbed, "They never cared if their daughter got into a public school, I'm surprised I'm as smart as I am without a proper education."

"Wow Tecna.., I'm so sorry, that's pretty crappy." Stella replied, lowering her head.

"That's not even the word for what I had to put up with." I murmured underneath my breath as we turned to head deeper into the forest.

"We should probably get going. We don't really have time to waste." Bloom suggested, and I couldn't agree more. I was sick of talking about my home life, and lying about it too. As we struggled to walk in the mud, Bloom continued to listen to the voice of nature, to tell her and Flora the direction in which to lead us to the clearing. I, on the other hand, had no idea how this was supposed to work.

"I honestly don't think I'm programmed to do this type of thing." I admitted to them, receiving a sour look from Stella.

"Don't talk like that Tecna, it makes you sound like you're a machine and it's totally creepy." She scuffed, "Unless you really are part machine or something like that." My face got red with anger at the what she just said.

"Who do you think you are, Stella, that was total discrimination!" Musa scolded her.

"Yeah, just because I'm from Zenith does not make me an android, those damn stereotypes make me sick to my stomach!" I shouted.

"Okay, okay, that's a pretty big social faux pas." Stella admitted shamefully, "Sorry."

"Correct me if I'm wrong, Tecna, but I think it's just your way of saying 'I don't think I can do this?'"

"Yes, Bloom, that's what I meant." I stated, collecting my emotions and suppressing my anger.

"Don't worry, Tecna, the voice of nature is just a sense that tells us what's harmful and what's helpful out here in the swamp. I knew that being a technology fairy, you have never heard of the idea, but Professor Palladium wouldn't have made you do this if you weren't able to do it at all." Flora explained.

"That's a logical statement Flora." I said, walking with the girls further away from the deepest of the mud puddle.

 **Timmy's Point of View**

After the back to school gala at Alfea, I isolated myself in the dorm room unless I was attending classes. Even then it was almost impossible to face my peers without being picked on even more than I already did before Riven embarrassed me. And what's worse is that I was so close to getting to know Tecna a little more, and now she probably wouldn't even want to be seen with me, just being associated with me would be a humiliation in its own right. The Monday after the gala, Headmaster Saladin appointed us the mission of bringing the troll we captured on Earth to Magix City to be taken to the authorities. Instead of piloting the Owl, one of Red Fountain's small aircraft models, I had the job of making sure that the troll was kept locked up. It wasn't like I could fight him off if he did escape his cell. I watched the troll for minutes before I know he was calm enough to be left alone momentarily while I joined Brandon, Sky and Riven in the control room.

"How's it going back there?" Riven asked me as I came through the door. For the good of the mission, I ignored the fact that at that moment I totally hated his guts.

"All right, the prisoner is calm." I informed the rest of the guys. Suddenly the entire aircraft began to shake violently. How could he escape, that cell had the tightest security Red Fountain could afford? "Oops, maybe I spoke too soon!" Alarms began blaring and Riven lost control of the Owl as we all grabbed ahold of something.

"What was that?" Brandon groaned after grasping the back of his seat.

"It's coming from outside," Sky told us hastily, "something's out there!"

"What are you talking about, that's impossible!" Riven snapped, "The sensors don't pick up anything!" Just then, the aircraft shook a second time, and began to nosedive towards the ground. Once we crashed, we managed to get out with minimal injuries, however the Owl was completely totalled. As we stood there trying to figure out how the troll may have escaped and how the ship got destroyed, five familiar fairies ran up to us, one of which I didn't think I'd see again for a very long time. They watched for a minute, waiting for us to notice that they came to see what was going on.

"Are you guys okay?" A brunette fairy with a tanned complexion asked us. Riven just looked back at Brandon before making a sarcastic remark.

"Isn't it rather obvious?" He answered her arrogantly. Despite his rudeness, a dark haired fairy in short pigtails seemed to find this attractive, and she smiled slightly and giggled. I never understood what made girls the way they are, and I don't think I ever will. My main goal was to become friends with Tecna only for the purpose of building her trust in order to protect her. I might get a lasting friendship out of it but that's all it'll intend to be.

"We're all safe and sound, thanks." Prince Sky answered, but his answer turned out to be wrong when he gasped and turned to the ship. We then realized that there was a giant hole on the side, and now we knew how the troll escaped, "Oh no." From what we could see, there were footprints walking away from the aircraft.

"Where's the troll?" He asked in a panic. Brandon turned around to see what Sky had seen, and Riven and I soon turned to look as well.

"He escaped!" Brandon gasped, making the other girls that had followed Tecna and her friends panic as well.

"A troll!" Their classmates gasped in awe.

"What do you mean?" One of the students inquired.

"Oh wow." One more thought in amazement.

"You were transporting a troll and you guys let him escape?" Tecna asked us seriously.

"We didn't _let_ anyone escape," Riven scuffed, "It was an accident, we lost altitude and-"

"Mechanical failure." I stated simply. I was desperately trying to ignore the fact that the same fairies I was humiliated in front of at the gala were looking right at me. I was more focused on finding the troll then anything else. When I'm enthralled in technology, I am much more confident and in control, I was comfortable and in my element.

"Anyhow, there's nothing to worry about, he's handcuffed." Riven continued. But Sky turned around and noticed something in the mud, groaning in frustration.

"Riven, look what I just found in the sludge." He replied, picking up the handcuffs the troll had on, the this made the girls panic even more.

"Oh no!" The fairies cried out, now that troll could have gone anywhere, and now it was very crucial that we made sure it was found and sent to Magix before it wreaked any more havoc.

"What are you guys doing around here?" Brandon asked.

"We're in the middle of an assignment, Brandon." Bloom answered him.

"Then get to your assignment and don't worry about a thing, leave it to the Specialists." Riven told them smugly. I was really getting sick of his cocky attitude, especially towards these girls who just want to know if we are all right, and offer to help.

"The Specialists are going to be here, when?" Stella asked, and Riven narrowed his eyes at her, making her laugh nervously at his increasing frustrating.

"We're right here, you silly little girl." Riven growled, allowing Prince Sky to step in to defend Stella.

"What Riven means is that, perhaps it would be best for you to go back to Alfea while we try to capture that animal." Prince Sky tried to clarify for Riven.

"We don't need your editorial comments, _Your Highness_." Riven snapped back. I knew Riven for a year now, and I have come to the conclusion that he was a jerk, smug, self absorbed, and disrespectful. Not only to his schoolmates and us, but to anyone he came across.

"And _we_ don't need to be told what to do." Another girl in Tecna's class interrupted just as arrogantly, "We'll take care of this on our _own_."

"You do what you got to do," Riven shouted, "but don't ever say we didn't warn you. Now come on you guys, let's get to work! We got a troll to capture!" And that was it, we walked slowly back to the ship to explore the situation further. I began work repairing the ship as the rest of the guys looked for more clues to where the troll would have headed.

 **Tecna's Point of View**

I seemed to be an innocent bystander in all this commotion, the same man who had embarrassed Timmy at the back to school gala was taking total control over the team and doing all the talking. He was acting like he was in charge and I could clearly see that no one else wanted him to be. He just left us stunned and wondering what to do next.

"Now what do we do?" Bloom asked .

"Maybe we should go with the guys and help them find the troll." Stella suggested.

"No, I don't think it's a good idea. I say we should get back to the assignment we've been given." Flora protested. I agreed with Flora, anything to end this assignment and get back to Alfea. Although it wouldn't hurt to help the boys, if they accepted it.

"We all know that troll, he's a wild beast. Sky and the others could be in for mega problems." Stella pointed out. It was true, they could get into danger trying to capture this troll, I did a bit of research on trolls before, and they were barbaric creatures that were very hard to keep captive for long. It would be easier for the guys to have a little fairy magic around.

"Okay, if you all think so." Flora agreed hesitantly. Now that the girls had agreed to investigate this matter, it was my turn to look deeper into the guys' problem.

"Well one thing's for sure, something strange is going on here." I began, looking up at the hole in the ship, "Have you noticed the hole in the fuselage, the aircraft was hit in flight." They all had looks of deep thought, trying to figure out how the troll could've escaped.

"So, I guess someone… helped him escape." Flora answered.

"I'm afraid you're right." I concluded.

"In that case... we don't have much choice, do we?" Flora asked, " The guys need our help to figure out who helped the troll break free. " And so, we walked over to the ship, where I saw Timmy hard at work trying to fix the wiring that was destroyed during the crash.

"What do you want?" Riven scuffed, we ignored his comment and began talking to Prince Sky about our theory.

"Sky, we have reason to believe that the ship was hit while you were flying." I began, "Whoever knocked you down was the one that allowed the troll to escape."

"Oh, how do you suspect that?" Sky asked curiously.

"The impact knocked out the stabilizer." I have continued.

"And whoever did that must've dealt with the handcuffs too." Musa added. examined the handcuffs Sky was holding.

"It's a psychic lock." I explained, as the prince of Eraklyon looked astonished by my knowledge. "To be able to open it, you need mental powers." I knew that, because quite a few of the rooms in Dr. Tonson's windowless building had psychic locks on them, probably to have kept some important documents locked up. Another possibility would be to keep me from having access to the outside world.

"Hey girls, check this out, the trolls footprints, notice anything?" Bloom suddenly pointed out, turning toward the footprints we saw earlier that were heading away from the ship.

"Oh yeah, that guy's got feet the size of an ocean liner." Stella joked, I don't think that was the point Bloom was trying to make. I noticed something else too, that as they got further and further away, they seemed to fade in the mucky ground.

"Huge feet that leave no prints," Musa thought, observing the prints on the ground, "See, they become less and less visible, and then they totally disappear."

"But the ground's still soft, how do you explain that?" Flora asked after stomping in the wet ground.

"It's as if the troll was on an ultra-sonic weight-loss plan." Stella couldn't help but make another joke.

"It was as if the troll found a way to gradually achieve a state of weightlessness." Musa repeated Stella joke, that was pretty much what Stella had said.

"Well, this sounds a bit like a flying spell." Flora thought.

"Yeah, but trolls can't cast spells." I replied, this definitely meant that he didn't escape on his own after the ship crashed.

"That means someone helped him." Bloom stated, we already knew that, but the question now was who, and why? "let's tread carefully, who knows what's in this swamp. Come on girls." We noticed that the guys had already left to try and find the troll on their own, so we began to follow the footsteps it left behind. After approximately fifteen minutes, we were quite far away from the ship, and yet the footprints were still very visible on the ground. Though it did not look like we were getting any closer to finding the troll.

"Finding a troll in a swamp has turned out harder than I thought." I sighed, what I expected, from doing some extra research on trolls, was that he would be causing a lot of commotion, making it easier for us to spot him in this quiet swamp. Unfortunately he would be too long gone for us to hear any noises he made.

"He could be absolutely anywhere." Flora pointed out as we continued following the footprints, by now they become very faint, and all we had to go on was the voice of nature that Professor Palladium instructed us about.

"The silence is eerie, the swamp's absorbed every sound." Musa observed, being the fairy of sound, it must've been quite unsettling for it to be this quiet.

"It's a good thing, the silence helps us focus." Bloom told us.

"So we can listen to the voice of nature." Flora continued Bloom's statement. Being the only one who's magic derived from unnatural sources, I was seriously getting frustrated by the fact that I couldn't hear a thing, or sense it either.

"Not that again, I don't hear anything." I replied irritably, suddenly the girls began hearing something, "So, did mother nature _suggest_ anything to you?"

"I'd start over there." Bloom pointed forward into a dark part of the swamp, I wasn't too comfortable with the idea of heading in that direction, but if that was where the troll went, then it was up to us to find him for the guys.

"Why, what's there?" Stella quivered as we continued to look into the dark, dense forest.

"I'm not keen on going myself, but.., I really feel that it's the right way." Bloom insisted.

"Yeah, I feel it too. It is the right path." Flora agreed, the two seemed to be the real experts with listening to this 'voice of nature', so I felt like I had no choice but to trust them.

"Come on, this way." Bloom instructed as Musa let out an exasperated sigh. I wasn't so sure about going, but if I protested, and Stella would most likely agree with me, we would still be outnumbered, the odds were just not in our favour.

"I just hope we don't regret this." I thought to myself, looking back to the brighter part of the swamp. Strangely enough, my powers weren't draining as quickly as I expected them to, perhaps it was because I had drawn some technological energy from the Red Fountain ship, just by being close to it. I still had my PDA in my pocket just in case anything did go wrong, and the further away we got from the ship, I would expect my powers to drain significantly, since it was the only source of technology around.

 **Timmy's Point of View**

We started following the troll's footprints long ago, and by now we came across a very dark part of the swamp. Riven was constantly yelling for us to hurry up, and as we began stepping on some sort of vines, they began surrounding us and wrapping themselves around us.

"Hey, these branches are alive." Riven stated as they continued to strangle us.

"That's impossible, Riven," I pointed out, beginning to panic, "no form of animal life could survive here."

"And why not?" Sky asked, struggling just as much as the rest of us.

"There's nothing animals can eat here." I continued to explain as the vines wrapped around us, getting tighter and tighter.

"Are you absolutely sure about that?" Brandon asked me.

"Positive.., but I'm beginning to have some serious doubts," I was starting to think that these plants may just be hungry for fresh meat, and unfortunately we were easy targets, and I couldn't help but cry out in a panic, "Help!"

"Stop yelling Timmy, I can't think straight." Sky scolded me in a loud whisper after I called out a few more times.

 **Tecna's Point of View**

We continued to walk a bit longer into the deeper part of the swamp until Flora told us to move very carefully and quietly.

"Don't make any noise, I recognize these plants. They're Quietus Carnivorous, they hate noise." She explained in a whisper.

"Really, I find it hard to believe." Stella replied in her normal tone of voice, then she whistled loudly, "See, nothing's happened." Her words were proven wrong when the plants' vines wrapped around her legs and picked her up by her feet as she tried not to yell and scream in surprise.

"Ssh, don't move." Bloom whispered, as Stella obeyed. Flora began to telepathically communicate with the vines as they eased their tension and let go of Stella's feet. She fell to the ground, coughing out mud, and very agitated by the plants that grabbed her.

"Dear oh dear," Flora sighed, "Will you keep your mouth shut from now on." Suddenly we heard a call for help from not to far away, it was Timmy. From the scream, it sounded like he and the others were in the same situation that Stella had gotten herself into. As we found the guys, Flora could see that they had.

"Ah, there you are." Stella whispered as we finally saw them wrapped in the vines of those Quietus Carnivorous plants.

"Keep whispering by all means, you wouldn't want to upset the digestive process of these plants." Riven replied sarcastically, trying once more to struggle in the vines.

"Keep your voice down, you dummy." Musa scolded him quietly.

"Everything's okay, little plants, you can relax." Flora whispered soothingly to the plants as they once again eased their tension and let the Specialists go. We were able to walk away from the plants without upsetting them any further. As we walked on, Brandon was able to catch up with Bloom as she turned around and held his hand when he reached for it.

"Uh... I'm really glad to see you again, Bloom." he whispered, only to have the moment interrupted by Stella.

"Ah hum, you can speak normally now, we're out of danger." She reassured them confidently.

"I think we should all look for the troll together at this point." Bloom suggested, "What do you guys say?"

"Well, I'm okay with it." Flora agreed.

"I refuse to team up with fairies." Riven protested, placing his hands on his hips to emphasize his point.

"Well, you're on your own then, buddy." Sky told Riven with a slight chuckle, "And if you find the troll, just give us a shout."

"Oh fine, I'll team up with you girls, just don't cause any problems, okay." Riven said arrogantly after about ten point six minutes of thought.

"Riven, that's enough, ever since the girls came to see if we needed any help, you have been nothing but rude, self absorbed and annoying." Brandon scolded him, "Quite frankly I don't know how you even call yourself a Red Fountain Specialist, you give the rest of us a bad name. Now shut up and let's find this troll."

"Whoa, I didn't know Brandon had it in him," Stella whispered to us, "it's about time someone took him down a peg." Riven became silent for a while after we began to venture out once more. I was glad when we reached a brighter area of the swamp, the darkness had become unsettling to us. After about fifteen more minutes of walking, we came across a river with chumps of grass at the surface.

"All right, I guess now we have to jump across to get to the other side." Bloom stated, observing our surroundings.

"Yes, it looks like the only way." Brandon added.

"I'll go first." Sky offered as he jumped from the ground to one of the grass clumps. Then, Timmy followed, only to end up landing in the water just a few feet away. Brandon burst into laughter and I tried not to giggle too. He'd been humiliated enough already in the past few days, but his awkward clumsiness made it hard for me not to at least smile and chuckle a little.

"First, we got the fairies to look after, and now we've got clumsy Timmy as well." Riven replied rudely. Sky helped Timmy to his feet as Brandon narrowed his eyes at Riven, after what he told Riven before, everyone thought Riven would have listened.

"Riven, you've gone too far!" Brandon finally snapped.

"You're just Prince Sky's yes man, Brandon." Riven shot back, "Why don't you clean up his stables?"

"You're insulting, Riven." Brandon growled.

"So, what are you going to do about it?" Riven asked arrogantly.

"You're off the team, buddy!" Sky spoke up, getting into the argument, all we did was stand there and stare, not knowing what to say, "Is that clear?"

"All right, lets go find that troll." Riven sighed, giving in to the idea of being kicked off their squad.

"I'm really sorry you girls had to be exposed to this, usually we try to keep some kind of dignity." Brandon apologize to us.

"It's okay, everyone gets into arguments, you should really hear us girls fight." Bloom reassured him.

"Oh yeah, we can get very catty." Stella admitted.

"Maybe we don't want to imagine." Brandon chuckled lightly, and with that being said, we attempted to cross the pond once again.

"That one looks good." Timmy suggested to me nervously. I gave him a reassuring smile as I looked his way.

"Thanks." Then I jumped to the grass clump that he pointed to. I didn't think I had the physical ability to make it without doing the exact same thing Timmy did, but I made it with both feet firmly on the clump of grass. Musa and Stella both looked at each other hesitantly before jumping to two separate grass clumps, and the rest of the group followed.

"I know this sounds crazy, but I think these clumps of turf… are moving." Stella replied as she began to wobble on her clump of grass.

"I was thinking the exact same thing." Bloom agreed as Brandon was trying to keep steady. I looked around at the clumps that weren't occupied by one of us, and I noticed that they were actually moving!

"You can all stop thinking now, because these clumps of turfs are moving for real!" I informed everyone as they began to rock on their individual clumps. Then suddenly the surface of the lake began to pick up speed, and the turfs started to move even faster than before. A whirlpool formed not too far away from us, and I knew we had to keep moving in order to avoid it. We began to panic while trying to move away from the whirlpool.

"What's going on?" Musa cried out.

"Well, it's a whirlpool," Brandon explained, "We got to get out of here, now." Right after he said this, Stella lost her balance and landed in Prince Sky's arms. She was a little surprised to see him catch her.

"Oh, thanks Sky." She replied, slightly blushing.

"Careful not to fall in the water, okay guys. We'd get trapped in the whirlpool." Brandon advised us as we all began to quickly leap from one grass clump to the next. We seemed to be doing really well as I managed to reach the other side first, however, Riven had slipped and fell in the water. Personally I was debating whether or not to leave him there, but something in me told me to do otherwise.

"Riven!" Brandon called, since I was already on shore, I acted quickly and decided to pull him out. Despite his disrespectful attitude towards his group and mine, he didn't deserve to be left there.

"Gotcha!" I called to him, grabbing his hands and pulling hard, "Hold on Riven!"

"Don't let go of me." He ordered as if I was going to decide to let him go at the last minute, even if I wasn't. I tried to pull my hardest, and considering I wasn't very strong to begin with, wasn't hard enough. I yelled in surprise as I lost my footing and almost fell in with him. I was sure that the next thing I was going to see was massive amounts of water in my eyes and to be coughing up the entire lake, Though, someone's hands had grabbed my feet before I could fall.

 **Timmy's Point of View**

As I watched Tecna attempt to pull Riven out of the fast moving waters, I knew she couldn't be able to get him to shore on her own, the current would be too strong. Just as I predicted, she lost her balance and began to fall in. I had to act fast, even if no one else knew it, this was what my mission entailed. I was there to protect Tecna from any harm, and before she reached the water, I suddenly grabbed on to both of her ankles and pulled as hard as I could.

"Gotcha!" I called out to her, "Someone help me..., I can't hang on much longer!" By now I had my feet at the edge of the water, I buckled down to prevent myself from going in right after them. Brandon and Bloom grabbed me by the arms and helped me back to shore, still grasping on to Tecna's feet. Once they got me on safe ground, I sighed with relief is we all sat there, exhausted.

"Come on, you guys, lets go, we got a troll to catch." Riven ordered, standing up, "We've lost too much time already." He began to walk off as Brandon and I looked at each other and just gave up. We weren't going to fight with him again, it was a pointless endeavour. Suddenly I saw Sky do something I thought he wouldn't even think of.

"Hey buddy, I think you owe Tecna a thank you for saving your ungrateful ass!" Sky shouted to Riven as he was about to walk away.

"What makes you think she could've saved me on her own, she could barely pull me out." Riven scoffed, "She's weak and you all know it!" That left most of us silent while he walked further away.

"Next time I hope she leaves you there!" Stella shouted angrily.

"Don't mind him, Stella," Tecna advised her quietly, "We can't waste any more time."

* * *

It was not long before we finally spotted the troll, Bloom and Flora could sense it, and the guys and I knew he had to be close. Riven had decided to come back and join us despite being very difficult to work with.

"We found him." Sky called, suddenly, we heard shrieks of panic from a short distance away, and ran to where they came from.

"That's Ameryl!" Bloom gasped.

"The fairies of Alfea are in danger." Sky called as Bloom looked behind some bushes to see a group of three fairies cornered by the troll.

"The girls are trapped," Bloom whispered, "we've got to do something before the troll starts making trouble!"

"We've got to be quick, and to the point." Prince Sky instructed hastily, "Number one, find a way to distract the troll." This order made the girls worry. Why were they troll bait all of the sudden?

"I hope your plan also has a number two." Stella replied.

"Of course, Brandon and Timmy will grab a hold of him, then Riven and I will slip the handcuffs on him. Any complaints?" Sky explained, yes, I had one, how in the Magical Dimension would he expect me to hold a troll down, even with help? I could barely pull Tecna out of a high current lake without help. "All right then, lets do it!" The troll then roared as we stepped behind him and the three trapped fairies.

"Hey you big bully, remember us!" Bloom cried out, beginning to take the troll's attention away from the fairies. He roared furiously, turning towards the girls with disgusting amounts of drool dripping from its mouth.

"Come and get us, doo-doo head, come on!" Stella taunted the troll. It toward us as Tecna and the others ran for cover, and as he got closer, he tripped, allowing us to pin him down.

"Come on, quick." Sky ordered, "What are you waiting for, cuff him!" The troll's arms and legs flew in every direction as Riven and Sky attempted to shackle him.

"Easier said than done!" Riven grunted before his mouth was covered and the troll roared once again.

"Hurry up, you guys!" I yelled, "I… I can't hold on!" The troll had got out of our hold and was swinging Prince Sky and Riven, then he threw them to the ground and ran off. Bloom gasped as she saw the troll escape the second time, leaving us frustrated and embarrassed. I got up from my fallen position in the mud and realized I was the one wearing the handcuffs.

"Great, we lost him again." Brandon sighed sarcastically as he took the cuffs off of me, "What a good job we did."

"So you guys are the Specialists, huh?" The fairy who Bloom told us was Ameryl, asked mockingly, "Specialists in what, botchery?" The three fairies began laughing at us as they ran off.

"That's the thanks we get?" Sky sighed, the least they could've done was appreciate the fact that the troll was gone.

"Well, we did fail, miserably." Riven huffed.

"The plan should've worked, it was working fine until we stepped in!" Sky shouted.

"It didn't, I knew that plan wasn't going to work from the very beginning, I knew all four of us couldn't hold that troll down." Riven stated sharply.

"Then why didn't you say anything!" Sky shouted. The girls just watched the two ague for minutes while Bloom went to find Brandon.

"Don't try to blame me, Sky," Riven continued to argue, " 'I'm not the one who handcuffed Timmy!"

"What, you had the handcuffs!" Sky argued.

"Who me?" Riven shot back, this had to stop, and if Brandon wasn't around to end this nonsense, then logically I was the only one to knock some sense into those two.

"All right, that's enough!" I shouted, finally breaking up the argument, " if we can't work as a team, we'll never be able to capture the troll."

"You're right," Prince Sky sighed, "We've got to work together, if not we're never going to succeed. Should we try again?" This question made Riven laugh.

"All right." He agreed.

"Gotcha." Sky laughed back, looking at Riven's face. I couldn't help but chuckle a little as well. As Bloom walked back with Brandon, and he headed over to Sky and Riven, wondering why they were suddenly getting along.

"Riven and I have called a truce." Sky announced to him, shaking hands with Riven.

"I'd have preferred ever lasting peace, but I can live with that." Brandon joked, making them all begin laughing again. After they finished joking around, we called the girls over to continue the search for the troll.

"Come on, girls! We should probably get going!" Brandon called as we began to walk again. Bloom followed him and Flora was close behind. Tecna and I seemed to be legging behind, and I suddenly noticed that she began to stop walking completely.

"Tecna, are you feeling okay?" Musa asked her from further in front of the group.

"Just fine, Musa, I can manage." She insisted, but some gut feeling told me that was not the case. This was an environment without any source of technological magic, her powers could be draining.

"Hey, you got to pick up the pace back there, we need to find that troll again!" Riven shouted from up front with Brandon and Sky.

"I think something's wrong with Tecna!" Musa began to panic as the rest of the group came running towards us.

"Do you need to sit down?" Flora asked Tecna kindly as she, Musa and I gathered around her.

"Just.., just give me a minute." She told us, stopping for a second and reaching in her pocket. After a few minutes of standing, grasping whatever was in there, we could hear her groan a little bit. I wasn't sure what to make of it or rather I should take her back to the Owl.

"What is she doing?" Sky asked.

"I don't know Sky, I hope she's okay." Bloom answered him. Then, she stopped and opened her eyes, and took her hand out of her pocket.

"All right, I'm fine now. Let's find that troll." She informed us as we continued to stare at her.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Flora asked her.

"Yeah, don't worry about me." Tecna insisted, and we began walking again. Now that I knew what to expect from her, I felt the need to watch very carefully for these strange things. These could be clues to why she needs to be protected, and what happened to her before she got to Alfea.

 **Tecna's Point of View**

That was too embarrassing, I hated to use my PDA, but I couldn't hold the group back from finding the troll. Now he could be long gone and it was all because we stopped to make sure I wasn't going to faint or something. Riven was right, I was weak, and based on these last couple of days, I was pathetic. I just wanted to go back to Alfea and surround myself with my technological devices, and shut my mind off from all these feelings of inadequacy.

"Tecna, what was that, one minute you're ready to pass out, and the next you're completely fine, what did you do?" Musa asked as we began walking again.

"Don't tell anyone, Musa, I know I can trust you with this, but Professor Palladium gave me special permission to use my PDA in cases like this." I whispered cautiously.

"Why?" She asked me.

"As you can tell I'm not that experienced with all natural environments, I've never gone a long period of time without a piece of technology to draw my magic from." I explained quietly, "Please don't let any of the others find out, especially Stella or Flora."

"My lips are sealed." Musa promised, suddenly, the front of the group stopped.

"And now what do you hear?" Brandon asked Bloom and Flora from up ahead.

"It's not a sound, more like a feeling." Bloom clarified to him.

"It's something you can't hear with your ears, you feel it inside." Flora added as Timmy ran up to the front with Sky.

"Well, then, do you think this should be the right path?" Sky asked. Finally I was able to catch up to the rest of them.

"Relax," I told Sky loosely, "I've learned that in these situations, Bloom can't be beat." As we walked further along the path, Bloom's senses began to tell her something else.

"We've reached the end of the road." She announced in confusion.

"But, there's no one here." Sky stated.

"I don't know what to say," Bloom continued, "I sense nothing."

"There's negative energy in this part of the swamp." Stella told us. As I paid more attention, I could feel the darkness as well, there was definitely magic in the air.

"I feel it too." I added, "As if someone cast a spell here."

"Someone used a spell to make the troll disappear." Sky pointed out, though it sounded more like a question than a statement.

"First, they help him escape." Musa replied in frustration, "Then they help him in the swamp and make him disappear."

"But, who would want to do something like that?" Brandon asked, I turned to see Bloom pick something up from on the ground.

"What's that in your hand there, Bloom?" I asked her.

"I'm not sure, I may be wrong, but these feathers look familiar, ring a bell?" Bloom showed me the feathers as Musa walked over to us.

"Icy's duck!" She exclaimed.

"And what does she have to do with this story?" Flora inquired.

"I haven't got a clue," Bloom answered, "but I'd really like to know."

"Well, now that this mystery had no lead, we should take you girls back to your class." Brandon suggested.

* * *

It was dark by the time we reached the ship, Stella and Flora were exhausted. Once I boarded and finally sat down in an environment that I was comfortable in, I could feel myself becoming more and more relaxed. Timmy hadn't said a word to me the whole entire time, but I knew he showed a little bit of concern because he was one of the first to come over when Musa told everyone I was having problems. Though he was more focused on driving the ship right now then anything. As the ship landed, we stepped out to meet our classmates. Riven gave a look at Musa, which she returned with intriguing eyes.

"Well, if you guys don't mind, we'll stay here and wish you goodbye." Brandon replied.

"Don't worry about it, we totally understand." Bloom answered back, they took off again once we got off the ship.

"Bye!" Flora called.

"See you!" Bloom yelled. I wondered, since Stella knew Prince Sky and Bloom knew Brandon, what the probability of seeing Timmy again was. Then, we turned around to expect a lecture about excessive tardiness from Professor Palladium.

"I've watched you during today's exercise and, even though you came in last, I'm really satisfied with you." He admitted, surprising us with the opposite of what we expected.

"What?" We all asked in unison.

"You've shown courage, initiative, and generosity, as well as excellent decision making capabilities." he explained further, "So in the light of the outcome of this exercise, I'd like to say that it was just a test run."

"No fair!" Ameryl protested, "We did all that for nothing!"

"I wouldn't say for nothing, Miss Ameryl," Professor Palladium told her with a smile, "some of you learned a lot today." I know I did, I'm beginning to learn to listen to the teachers and Ms Faragonda when they insist on what's best for me, even if it is humiliating.

"And now, we can go back to Alfea!" he announced, everyone cheered with the words I was waiting to hear all day.

* * *

The next day after classes, Ms Faragonda asked me to come in to her office for yet another private discussion. As I entered, I saw her sitting at her desk with a very optimistic look on her face,

"Tecna, last week I was able to have the time to go online and find all the necessary forms I need to become your legal guardian. All I need to do is go in and have them filled out, then they should be able to give me a court hearing date." she informed me.

"So soon, do I need to attend this hearing too?" I inquired with astonishment, I was surprised that she would be able to get on it so quickly. This was the headmistress of the Magical Dimension's best fairy school, and yet she was taking on an entirely new responsibility of looking after me.

"Normally you wouldn't have to, but it would be a good idea, for some visual evidence of your situation at home." Ms Faragonda insisted, "Words alone cannot prove much compared to seeing the damage done." I sighed knowing that the headmistress was correct, she knew I didn't like this one bit.

"Don't worry so much, Tecna, after I am appointed your legal guardian in Magix, things will look up and you will be able to live a normal life like the rest of the students here at Alfea." She reassured me after a moment of silence, " I will keep you updated, everything is going to be just fine."

"I appreciate your help, Ms Faragonda, you are taking on something that I never expected you to." I admitted quietly. The woman stood up and walked around her desk to where I sat. Then she knelt down and placed her hands on my shoulders.

"Tecna, look at me, when Ms Griselda and I saw what Dr. Tonson did to you, the scars and bruises on your arms from his needle, I had a lot to think about. You had a meltdown the moment you knew we were going to find out. Technology fairies don't usually show their emotions, so I knew when you had your meltdown that something was desperately wrong." She told me softly, "My job is to look after the safety and well being of my students while they're in this institution, and you are definitely not safe anywhere. I'm choosing to take you on because you have no one to turn to." Hearing all of this, hearing how obligated she was to make a better life for me, I felt this wave of emotion washing over me, and I couldn't control it. Tears began to well in my eyes while she spoke.

"Thank you Ms Faragonda, you don't know how much this means to me." I admitted through sniffles. I always felt embarrassed crying, even if I was alone, though twice in the past week was not normal for me, not unless it was because of severe stabbing pain from Tonson's needle. However, Ms Faragonda reassured me that crying was better than holding in all the pain and suffering.

"Everything is going to be okay now Tecna, there's always a light at the end of the tunnel." She promised me, embracing me tightly in what was known as a hug, it was something I had never experienced before, and I didn't want to let go.

 **Timmy's Point of View**

I thought I was alone as I stared at Tecna's picture from the documents I was given for my mission, that is until I heard Sky come in our bedroom door. I tried to close the picture so he couldn't see it, though it was too late.

"Hey, I thought you and Brandon were going to work out." I inquired.

"The gym's too crowded this time of day, better get it in early in the morning before class." He answered, "Isn't that the same girl you were looking at a week ago..? Wait a second, that's Tecna, Stella's friend. Do you know her?" Crap, I was definitely busted now, if I wanted to keep my identity as a secret agent, I had to lie, and be really convincing at it too.

"Yeah, I know her from way back when we were kids," I flat out lied, " I was really surprised that she was going to Alfea, but don't ask her or any of the girls, she wouldn't even remember me."

"So you had a thing for her, didn't know you had the balls man." Sky chuckled, "Nice catch, stud." I just chuckled back nervously and hoped this wasn't going to come back to kick me in the ass


	5. Date With Disaster

**Since this was a very Stella heavy episode, and Tecna had little to no off screen time, I felt like this chapter was a play-by-play of the episode and I apologize for that. I will say that there'll be more of Tecna's secrets and dealing with the challenger of the outside world in future chapters. Skip this one if you want, it'll be boring.**

 **Winx Club Episode Dialogue (c) Iginio Straffi And Rainbow S.r.l**

* * *

 **Chapter Five: Date with Disaster**

A few weeks after our assignment in Black Mud Swamp, the school chef, Mistro Spolia, came into one of our classes to announce his offer to teach us basic cooking skills. Our class was surprised by this new lesson.

"Young fairies, I've discussed it with Headmistress Faragonda and Ms Griselda, and for the next month, it is mandatory that one of the dorms prepare a home cooked meal for the entire school's dinner, with my supervision of course." He told us as many students in our class groaned.

"How do you expect us to make a meal for an entire student body when some of us haven't even touched a stove? I have people to do that for me!" Stella asked with a pout.

"That is exactly why we've made it mandatory for all the Alfea students, for you to learn how to do things without the use of magic." The Mistro continued.

"Without magic!" Everyone in the room exclaimed in unison.

"Now, who wants to go first?" He asked.

"I think it might be fun to learn how to cook, I could teach Miele when she's older." Flora replied, Miele was Flora's younger sister, she told us a lot about her and life on Lynphea. Bloom nodded her head in agreement, whereas Stella almost begged not to be picked on. Musa and I were both indifferent to the idea.

"It's settled than, our first volunteers will be Bloom, Stella, Flora, Musa and Tecna." Mistro Spolia insisted, and at an instant, Stella's head met the desk and we turned in her direction when we heard the noise.

* * *

At first I was slightly optimistic about learning how to cook without using magic, I looked at the experience in a logical point of view. If I was ever in a situation where I didn't have my magic, and I needed to survive, these basic life skills would prove to be very effective. However, when I saw how many potatoes we had to peel, I didn't complain. Although after a while, the repetitive peeling began to get tedious, unfortunately we had no choice.

"Ugh, I hate doing kitchen duties," Bloom admitted, "I just don't get it."

"What is it that you don't get, Bloom?" Musa inquired.

"Why a school for fairies can't use magic to cook dinner, it doesn't make sense." Bloom replied as she threw off her apron and began twirling in the air, "All you got to do is wave the magic wand, snap your fingers, wiggle the nose a couple of times and voila! Everything's ready without any effort." Although it sounded strange the way she described it, she did have somewhat of a valid point. Though it wasn't that easy to cast a simple spell, making magic work used a lot of energy. Overhearing Bloom's statement, the chef suddenly opened the door.

"However, home cooked meals taste a lot better and are much healthier." He insisted, Bloom's facial expression turned to that full of nervousness, and he gave each of us a suspicious glance.

"Um.. hi Mistro Spolia." She replied.

"How's the side dish coming along?" Mistro Spolia asked us, observing our progress thoroughly.

"We're almost finished, sir." Musa told him, but the look on his face made it clear that he was not too impressed to see the result of our potato peeling.

"These potatoes are too small, take off less skin." He advised sternly, "And what about the omelettes, don't forget to flip them, eh!" As we remembered the eggs, we rushed over to our respective stations.

"Uh… of course." Bloom said nervously.

"Cooking is an art, young ladies." The Mistro reminded us.

"When I graduate from here I'll eat out every night." Musa thought aloud.

"Now let's see you flip these omelettes." Mistro Spolia ordered, "Come on!" The pans we had were very heavy, it was extremely hard to lift them. Flora went first, and caught hers, so did Musa and I. I knew I was going to learn quite a bit at Alfea, but I had no idea that I'd be learning how to cook of all things. Musa miscalculated her aim, but managed to catch her omelette with her quick reflexes. Now it was Bloom's turn to flip her eggs, but she used a bit more force than necessary. As a result, her omelette flew up and we watched it hit the ceiling fan while she made a tense, apologetic face.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, I had no idea how it happened." she pleaded as we stared at the egg hanging from the ceiling fan blade.

"Well, what are you waiting for, somebody turn off the fan." the Mistro insisted. Flora ran over toward the fan switch.

"Uh… I'll do it." She offered, fiddling with the switch to try and turn the fan off, unfortunately the only thing it did was turn it on higher.

"Come on down, little omelette, don't be afraid. Trust me, no one's going to eat you." Musa teased as Bloom tried to stifle in laughter. That was Musa, alway trying to make a bad situation funny.

"I said turn it off!" Mistro Spolia yelled in frustration, though it sounded more like he was singing. After a moment of nervous giggles, Flora finally found out how to turn the ceiling fan off. However, there was too much force when it stopped, and the omelette flew from the fan blade. We all gasped as we saw where it landed, right on the Mistro's face.

"I'll have a word with the headmistress about granting you a permanent exemption from kitchen duties." Mistro Spolia's voice rose with every word, "You young fairies cause more trouble then help! Now I must clean up before dinner time, so keep an eye on the roast." As he left, we continued to peel the last of the potatoes while Flora checked on the oven.

"Everything's okay here." She informed us after opening the oven for a second. There finally Stella decided to make her grand entrance, throwing open the kitchen doors, count on her to be an hour late for something we were required to participate in.

"Girls, I have some really wild news!" she announced, I wasn't to thrilled about what she had to say, what kind of excuse did she have in order to get out of this?

"We know, you managed to get out of kitchen duties, congratulations, Stella." I replied without expression, but with a hint of sarcasm.

"Oh, but I have a perfectly valid reason for that, you know." She told us, "I'm going out tonight, I got a date, isn't that exciting!" That's her excuse, a date, are you serious? Normally I couldn't care what anyone else does, but being a part of a team has made me a little more aware of how much everyone's actions effect the efficiency of the task at hand. That is why I was fighting the urge not to put down the potato I was peeling and start yelling at the Solarian Princess, but all the logic in me kept me focused.

"Oh, a valid reason indeed." Bloom replied sarcastically.

"I received an invitation, guess who it's from?" She bragged joyously.

"Oh we're just dying to know." Musa replied with just as much sarcasm as Bloom, it was so obvious who gave her the invitation that we didn't even have to guess.

"Prince Sky, can you believe it!" she shrieked excitedly, "An invitation to Black Lagoon, sounds good, huh?"

"Wow." Flora cheered in response.

"A guy who knows you and still wants to see you?" Musa questioned with more sarcasm. Suddenly the blonde sun fairy's excited expression turned to that of despair.

"But what am I going to wear? I'm so confused, will you help me pick something?" she pleaded helplessly. The roast wasn't going to be ready for another five minutes or so, and we were done peeling potatoes, although my intuition told me something bad would happen if we left the kitchen unsupervised.

"Well… okay." Bloom agreed, and, knowing I'd be the odd one out, I stayed quiet and followed the others back to the freshmen dormitories after preparing the potatoes.

* * *

Stella's bedroom was the biggest of all of ours, it had an upper floor which held her enormous closet and countless chests of accessories.

"Stella, you got so many clothes." Bloom stated in astonishment as the Solarian Princess slid back her first row of ensembles.

"Mmm.. that's the problem," Stella pointed out as Flora went to examine all the clothes, "I need something really special, romantic." Then, the nature loving fairy picked out a black dress. I had no idea why a fairy of the sun and moon would own something so dark.

"I'd wear this, pure classic elegance, it's perfect." She suggested, holding it up for Stella.

"For a funeral, yes," She disagreed, "for a date, I need a bit more pizzazz." I wasn't quite sure how much 'pizzazz' she considered acceptable for a date, but I thought I saw something in that huge collection of outfits.

"How about this, then?" I asked her, "You're sure to make a lasting impression wearing this. How could you've bought something like that?"

"I didn't buy it." Stella answered as she took the dress from me.

"Someone gave it to you?" I inquired once again.

"I designed it." Stella boasted confidently as Bloom walked past us, browsing through the dresses once more.

"In the dark?" Musa asked sarcastically. With the final agreement that the dress I suggested was not fitting for her date, Bloom pulled out a short blue one.

"I like this." She thought aloud to Stella

"Yeah, that's it!" she agreed happily, and Bloom handed it over to her best friend.

"Will Brandon be there too?" Bloom asked curiously, backing up to stand beside Musa, letting Stella change clothes.

"No, Sky gave his servants the night off." Stella told her, throwing her tube top and skirt on a table.

"Uh, come on, Brandon is not his servant!" Bloom retorted, "He's his assistant, there's a difference."

"Sorry, Bloom, I was just joking, all right." Stella apologized, but all Bloom did was huff, "You like him, huh, yeah I know, don't tell me, it's none of my business."

"Hey!" Bloom shouted, only for Stella to completely ignore it.

"Yeah well, you shouldn't have called him that, Stella." I insisted without emotion.

"Musa, could you get that box for me, please." Stella asked her.

"Sure," Musa answered as she went over to pick up a green chest and head toward the Solarian Princess, "What's in there?"

"Just a few pieces of jewellery." Stella replied, opening the box with her foot.

"A _few_ pieces?" Flora thought.

"Here, these are perfect," Stella smiled, sliding her magic ring on her finger and admiring her hand, "But ugh.., the ring is too much... Now that's better," she said quietly after taking it off and handing it to Bloom, "here Bloom, could you keep this for me, please?"

"But it's your magic ring." Bloom protested worriedly.

"Oh, I won't need it tonight," Stella reassured her, "hey, who needs a magic sceptre when you got a real prince to protect you!" At the excitement of her upcoming date, she spun around cheerfully.

"I wouldn't trust that guy," I replied, "something is not quite right about this date, I smell a rat." I suppose my need to over analyze things was getting the best of me, it became a habit when I spent my free time taking apart electronics and trying to figure out their mechanics.

"I smell something too." Musa stated, I could suddenly smell something burning, and that could only mean one thing.

"Ah, the roast!" I cried, as did Flora and Musa, then we ran down the hallway as we could back to the kitchen.

"Hurry up, quick!" Musa called in front of Bloom and I with wide eyes. We had to get there before the teachers found out.

"I'll grab the extinguisher." Flora told us. Musa, Bloom and I threw open the kitchen doors to find the kitchen completely filled with smoke.

"Uh oh, what a mess." Bloom replied worriedly.

"Mess, you say!" Ms Griselda's voice came up from the smoke, we all froze in our tracks with looks of fear on our faces, "A better word would be a disaster, catastrophe, calamity!" We turned around to see her emerge from the smoke, "Your unreliability is unforgivable!" Now that Ms Griselda had seen that we burnt the roast, perhaps we might have to make another full course meal for the entire school to make up for what we did.

"Oh no, it's Ms Griselda." Musa whispered to me.

"Airlaux!" Ms Griselda used her magic to make the smoke disappear in her palms, but as soon as the smoke cleared, Flora ran in with the fire extinguisher.

"I'm coming, girls!" she cried out.

"I hope you have a good excuse for all of this." Ms Griselda replied harshly as she turned around to see Flora run in.

"Here I go!" she screamed, tripping as she entered the room. The foam in the extinguisher exploded as she fell and sprayed Ms Griselda in the face. Musa couldn't help but laugh silently, as I just smiled slightly.

"Get back to work immediately, did you here me?" Ms Griselda scolded furiously, "Dinner must not be delayed! Do your best, girls!" Bloom looked hopeless as the Head of Discipline left, then her face brightened up again.

"Bread and cheese okay for you guys, hm?" she asked innocently.

"I'm okay with anything at this point." Flora agreed. So that was what we had for dinner that night. It wasn't the highest quality meal ever, but it was simple and delicious, that was all we needed.

* * *

After dinner, we managed to walk to the dorm, exhausted. While Bloom and Flora went into their room, Musa began to rant to me about how Stella could easily get out of kitchen duties just because she had a date with Sky. I agreed with her completely, this was a mandatory part of Alfea's education now, and that meant not participating would risk her chances of passing the school year. Obviously she didn't care.

"How can Stella just ditch us when she knows perfectly well that this is a team effort!" Musa continued, "If she doesn't participate, we all suffer for it!"

"Usually I don't let what other people do effect my work efficiency, but even after being with you for such a short time, I realized that we're all like every little function of an operating system. " I admitted after listening to my roommate's frustrations.

"But what really bothers me is that she has a reason to go to Magix, she could just go on another one of her shopping sprees, but someone actually wants to take her out!" Musa shrugged.

"Stella isn't that bad of a person, sure she might not have her priorities in order but she does have some good qualities as well." I pointed out evenly.

"You're right, and besides I guess she has to figure out on her own that she has to come to class if she wants to pass the year, and if she doesn't it's not our problem." Musa replied with a sigh, "Anyway, I want to go out too, with or without a date." Just then, Bloom walked out from her bedroom carrying her shoes.

"Well, it certainly would be better if someone asked us out." She added. I was uninterested in the whole idea of going out, I had better things to accomplish.

"I've not been programmed for dating." I said simply, knowing I could use my Zenithian slang without Stella being around to tell me that I'm talking as if I was a machine.

"You should try it anyway." Bloom insisted, "It's fun." I honestly found that hard to believe, and anyway, I had no time to waste with trivial activities, I had much more important things on my mind, like how I'm going to survive out on my own with little to no money and only the headmistress for support. Dating was not even on my priorities list.

"What's fun about dating?" I inquired, "It is an experience of irrelevant value."

"You have nothing to lose, then." Bloom told me.

"Yeah, why don't you ask Timmy out." Musa added, and at that point I decided the conversation was going to go absolutely nowhere, and I had the power to end it right away.

"Good night, girls," I replied, surprisingly more hurried than I intended, "I'm going to switch myself off now." And with a dismissive wave of my hand, I walked out of the room, I could hear the girls giggling. I shut the door and sighed, taking out my pyjamas, I had no idea what made dating so intriguing to the other girls.

* * *

I was in for a rude awaking by crashing and banging from outside our bedroom. I tossed and looked at my digital clock. It was 6:30, only half an hour until we had to get up for classes anyway.

"Tecna, are you hearing those noises?" Musa yawned from the other side of our shared room. Of course she would be able to hear them due to her sonar ears, but certainly I was hearing the same thing.

"Loud and clear." I answered groggily, uncovering myself from my blankets and sliding on my slippers.

"I think we should check this out." Musa replied sleepily, and as I opened our doors, we saw Bloom walking toward where the noises were coming from, Stella's room.

"You heard that too, didn't you?" Musa asked her and Flora as we all met in the common area. We all toward Stella's bedroom, and Bloom cautiously knocked on her door.

"Stella, is everything okay?" she called out, "Stella!" She opened the door to see Stella, still in her date dress with a look of false innocence on her face.

"Oh… hi, what's up?" she asked with a slightly nervous giggle, I began to suspect that something was definitely off.

"Stella, what's with all the noise?" I asked her, "And at this hour, it's not even time to get up yet."

"Uh… a bag… fell down." She insisted nervously, and by the tone in her voice I could tell she was lying, "Everything's all right. Go back to sleep." The tone in her voice changed quite a bit, making me even more suspicious of what happened in the previous night.

"What's the point, the alarm's about to go off anyway?" Bloom replied.

"What time did you get in last night?" Flora inquired, probing for more details about the date, "We didn't hear you come in."

"It was late.., and I didn't want to wake you up." Stella told us in one big rushed sentence. It was almost as if she wanted to get rid of us, but why?

"So, how did it go? Come on, we want the details." Bloom pressed, it would be a good idea to get more information about the date from Stella, it may explain her current behaviour.

"Oh, but there's nothing to tell." The Solarian Princess was lying, just by the rushed tons and the fact that she was normally very extroverted, my assumptions were beginning to make sense. As for the rest of the girls, they weren't buying it either.

"And you want us to believe that, come on, come on, come on-" Bloom suddenly began begging Stella to tell us more, to her irritation.

"I said nothing happened okay, so go mind your own business!" She snapped, surprising all of us.

"Stella..." Bloom went silent after her outburst, this was definitely not like the fairy of the sun and moon that we knew.

"Who does she think she is?" Musa was about to go at it with the blonde princess, but Bloom put a hand on her shoulder to stop her.

"No, Musa, leave her alone." Bloom advised her seriously, "She'll get over it." And with that being said, the rest of us continued on our morning routine, leaving Stella to do whatever was necessary to release her frustrations.

* * *

In Professor Wizgiz's class, we were being taught how to change our heads into pumpkins. He told us that it was the first step to being able to transform your entire body into a completely different form..

"And one more time, all together." The professor instructed, "A deep breath, repeat after me. Vanish Pumpkin!"

"Vanish Pumpkin!" We called in unison as our heads returned to normal. I was quite relieved to see everyone's face again.

"Wow, that was a lot of fun." Bloom admitted happily. Though, not all the fairies were successful with the transformation.

"Ah, Professor Wizgiz, it didn't work, it didn't work!" One of our classmates began to panic.

"Calm down, calm down," Wizgiz told her, "This is what happens when you don't concentrate enough."

"Do something, please Professor!" She pleaded.

"I'll take care of it, right away." Professor Wizgiz replied calmly as he took out a mouse from his pocket, "Here we are." The mouse began squealing furiously as it tried to reach for her.

"Ah, a mouse!" She protested, but it worked, her head began returning to its original form.

"In a case like this, a good scare is the best cure. Thank you, Phil." Professor Wizgiz informed us as he set the mouse on his palm.

"No problem, Wizzy." the mouse answered, crawling back into his pocket. Suddenly, the bell finally rang for lunch.

"I'll see you girls tomorrow, for our first lesson on Entocytheosis, the art of insect transformation." Professor Wizgiz announced, making the class groan in protest. As we walked out of the classroom, we noticed that Stella still hadn't shown up.

"Did you notice, our little princess didn't even bother to come to class." Musa asked.

"I don't know what's gotten in to her." Flora added.

"Maybe something happened to her and she doesn't want to tell us." I thought.

"But I thought we were her friends." Flora wondered. This was a mystery that we were obligated to figure out.

"I'll try again with Stella." Bloom told us, running off, "You guys wait for me here, okay."

"Good luck, girl." Musa replied nervously as Bloom ran up the stairs to the freshman dormitories. After waiting for approximately twenty minutes, we began to get impatient.

"Bloom hasn't come back with Stella yet, do you think we should go look for them?" Flora asked.

"It's a good idea, something must have happened for them to take this long." Musa answered. We returned to our dorm to find it in ruins. I slowly walked into the room I shared with Musa, with her following me, to find all my devices and computers destroyed. The little that I had, now reduced to mere garbage. Musa's CD case was broken and the majority of her CDs were on the floor, trashed. Her saxophone and he CD player were destroyed as well.

"What the Oblivion happened to all my stuffj?" Musa asked in shock. I was too shook up about my own belongings to even speak.

"It was Stella, you guys." Bloom began slowly as we turned around and walked back into the common room. I just couldn't believe that all my hard work was destroyed without any chance of getting it back, "She was trying to search for her ring.., she called me a thief and attacked me! Couldn't she remember that she gave it to me to hold on to for her?"

"I don't know!" Flora cried out, I had a feeling her plants were not spared from any damage either, "I don't believe it!"

"Believe it, girl." Musa replied, "This is no dream."

"What in the world has gotten in to her?" Flora thought worriedly. After what Bloom had told us, I knew something about the date may have set her off, but what, and why?

"Her date with prince charming must've sent her into dizzy mode." I added.

"On Earth, we'd say she's out of her head." Bloom clarified my statement , "But somehow, I don't think Sky's got anything to do with it. You should've seen her, she was…she was really evil. It didn't look like her."

"I don't understand the part about the ring. Why was she looking for it, she herself gave it to you?" Musa speculated while I tried to think of a conclusion based on the information Bloom gave us.

"What if she's lost her memory." Flora thought, "What if something happened to make her confused."

"That's what we got to find out." Bloom replied, "For the time being, no one must know anything about what happened."

"It'll be hard to keep this a secret for long." I warned the girls, knowing that seeing all of our things destroyed, we would have to make up something, especially with Stella's odd behaviour. Flora took out her cell, and tried to call her.

"We got to find Stella. She's not answering her cellphone." She told us after a minute of attempting to contact our friend.

"That would be too easy." Bloom pointed out, and she was right. After this morning, it was very unlikely that Stella would want to answer her cell.

"Where do we start?" I asked, we just had to get more pieces to this mysterious puzzle. Suddenly, Musa noticed something on the floor and went to pick it up.

"Well I'd start with last night's date." Musa began as she stood up with it in hand, the invitation from Sky, "Prince Sky of Eraklyon, our number one suspect."

"All right, then." Bloom agreed, with a plan in motion, we went down for lunch.

* * *

"Next stop, Red Fountain." Bloom announced on the bus. When we arrived, it took us a little while to find the Prince of Eraklyon, who was in his training session.

"Psst, psst, Sky, can we talk to you?" Bloom called him over to us, trying not to disrupt the rest of the class.

"Girls, what's going on?" Sky asked, running over to us.

"It's Stella, she's been acting strange ever since she came back from her date with you. She was completely witchy, not like herself at all." Bloom explained.

"I'd love to help you girls, but.., I really have no idea what you're talking about." He insisted innocently, "Last night I worked out until nine, then I collapsed. I didn't see Stella, and I never sent her a note like that. Hey, I didn't write that!" Bloom had the note in her hand as Sky took it from her. L

"He sure didn't." It was Riven, we turned to see him carrying a box of supplies, "Didn't you girls know that Sky can't write."

"Very funny Riven," Bloom gave him a sour look as he continued laughing, "I just can't stop laughing."

"Bye, sweeties!" Riven called, walking away.

"Obviously someone is tricking you." Sky was saying when an animal jumped on him, making a high pitch yelping sound, "Did something happen to her?"

"That's what we're trying to figure out." Bloom told him as the animal continued to jump at him. It was making me feel increasingly nervous with it around, and as I stood there listening to their conversation, it turned to jump on me, yelping loudly.

"Um… would it be possible to turn that animal off please?" I asked nervously as it continued to jump at me.

"Lady, down girl." Sky ordered, but it still was yelping and jumping at me as if my uneasiness made it more excited, "Hush Lady. Lady!" I tried bracing myself, as if it was trying to attack me.

"Lady!" another voice commanded, it was Brandon. We all turned to him, and the animal stopped jumping at me, "Come sit, girl." Then it went over to him and sat in front of him.

"She spends so much time with Brandon, she stopped listening to me." Sky sighed. I was relieved that Brandon had the animal under control.

"Hi, Brandon." Bloom smiled as he walked over to us.

"Hello, Bloom." He greeted her, but before they could continue, the guys heard their teacher call.

"All right, boys, break's over!" A male voice yelled, "Some fierce fiery dragons are anxiously awaiting your arrival. So say good bye to your little friends."

"Yes, Professor, we'll be there right away." Sky answered back.

"That's Cordatorta the Terrible, it's probably better not to keep him waiting." Brandon lowered his voice to a whisper as he spoke.

"You'll keep us posted, won't you?" Sky asked us, "And if you need any help, you know where to find it." Then, they left to continue their training.

"Now what?" Flora asked.

"Do you have to ask, let's go to Magix." Bloom answered, what was her next move?

* * *

In the streets of downtown Magix, we began looking around for Stella, we searched all her favourite boutiques and stores knowing she might have wanted to relieve some of her frustration, the only way she know how.

"So you think Stella is here somewhere?" I asked Bloom.

"I think Stella could be anywhere at this point." She admitted worriedly.

"Then why are we starting with the city?" Flora inquired.

"Because of the Black Lagoon, remember." Bloom explained as we turned to her, "That's where she was supposed to go last night, maybe they'll be able to help us there." Even if I had a virtual database of all the locations in Magix, I wasn't sure if there was such a place as the Black Lagoon, but I thought I'd check.

"Black Lagoon, hmm." I began, raising my arm, a magical circular grid rose from my wrist, displaying the locations of Magix, " Using my search program, we'll be able to find it in a flash. A quick scan of the synchronic map, and..,"As I tapped on the grid, and typed in the name of the location, a diagram popped up on my palm of the entire city of Magix, "Voila!" However, there was no sign of any location on the map.

"Hmm…strange," I pondered, this was very puzzling, "No sign of the Black Lagoon."

"Now let's try my search program." Bloom offered.

"You've got one too?" I asked her, looking confused, "How does it work?"

"Check this out," Bloom called, walking over to a person on the street, "Excuse me sir, I'm looking for the Black Lagoon."

"Black Lagoon, never heard of it, sorry." The man told her as he walked away.

"See." Bloom pointed out as we giggled behind her, "You guys can use it too if you want, it's very easy to operate." After we stopped laughing, we began trying to do what Bloom did. We asked around for quite a long time.

"Nothing, this isn't good." Flora sighed softly, we where sitting on the sidewalk after what felt like an endless search which led to nowhere.

"If they wanted to be a cool spot, they really should start advertising a little bit." Bloom implied the opinion that this place was almost non-existent.

"Yeah, nobody's heard of it, there's something fishy going on here." Musa concluded. The

"Maybe we should go back to Alfea and warn Ms Griselda." I suggested, if all this searching was getting nowhere, I would go to someone of higher knowledge at this point.

"You girls give up already?" Bloom asked, obviously still determined to carry on looking.

"Listen," I advised her, "this kind of perseverance is not always good, Bloom."

"Neither are your electronic gadgets." She shot at me, sure we were getting frustrated, but that didn't mean she had to take it out on me.

"Hey, hey, this is no time to be fighting." Flora interrupted us before the argument could escalate.

"Sorry." Bloom apologized quietly.

"Yeah, sorry." I answered in unison. Suddenly, we heard someone call to us.

"Um, excuse me ladies." A man began as he walked towards where we sat, "I couldn't help but notice that… uh well, you were asking questions and I, I think I have the information you're looking for, but maybe it's none of my business."

"Are you kidding?" Bloom asked him, "Why didn't you say so right away?"

"Do you know anything about the Black Lagoon? If you do, can you tell us, please. Pretty please, with a cherry on top." Musa begged. The man smiled at her pleas, and told us where to find it.

"Uh, yeah, it's a great new restaurant right outside the city." He continued, "You follow the main road, and keep going until you get to the bridge. You can't miss it. There's a really large oak tree right in front of it."

"Great, thanks a lot mister." Bloom replied, and when we turned back around, he was gone.

"Where did he go?" Flora asked.

"What a strange man." I muttered, he just disappeared without a trace.

"You're absolutely right, Tecna." Bloom agreed, "A strange man indeed." Though, it didn't matter, we finally had the information we needed, and now we were closer to finding Stella.

* * *

At the outskirts of the city, we saw the bridge, and sure enough, there was the oak tree.

"The directions were right," Bloom began, "Here's the big oak tree, and there's the Black Lagoon."

"When we get back to Alfea, don't forget to upgrade your search program." Musa told me bitterly. First Bloom snaps at me, and now Musa, it wasn't my fault that Stella went all haywire and ran away!

"My program works very well." I retorted, but still with an even tone, "It's this place that's wrong."

"Tecna's right." Flora agreed, walking towards the oak tree, "There's a strange feeling about the place. This tree isn't breathing, it feels odd, cold, distant. It's as if it didn't exist, as if it were an illusion." As she described the tree, she felt it with her magic, a butterfly just flew right through it.

"Are you sure, Flora?" Bloom asked her nervously. Suddenly, the door to the Black Lagoon blew open with a gust of wind. The wind blew in our faces and swept away the good vibration that was covering our surroundings. Now the area was foggy, the oak tree was bare, and everything was dark and cloudy. We stood there in shock as we looked around. Walking around toward the Black Lagoon, the man from Magix stepped out from the door.

"Oh, at last, there you are. We've been waiting for you." He gestured for us to follow him, "Come in, please come in."

"It's a trap, why didn't we see that coming?" Musa gasped as the realization hit us. My search program didn't need to be updated at all because this place was an illusion.

"Yeah, well it's too late to turn back now." Bloom sighed as we cautiously walked into what looked like an abandoned house.

"Hey wait!" Bloom called to the man as he ran around the empty space in the room, "Who are you?"

"He wants us to follow him." I told the rest of the Winx, watching him run.

"Hmm, I don't like this place one bit." Flora replied.

"A fresh coat of paint, a few nice rugs, it would look totally different." Musa joked, looking up at the ceiling.

"This is not the time to joke around, okay Musa." I scolded her, her jokes were not appropriate at the moment.

"Hey, that's what Stella would say." Musa replied, suddenly we heard Stella's voice behind us and we gasped in surprise.

"Well, look who's here?" she asked with a wicked undertone, Bloom was right, she was different, I could tell right away, "My friends." Then, we heard the door slam shut, and we were trapped inside the house.

"I'm only here to take back… what belongs to me." Stella snarled, walking toward us. "I want my ring.., and you're going to give it to me one way or another." Instantly, she flew up in the air, growling angrily at us, and shooting dark energy at us.

"Watch out!" Bloom called as we hid behind knocked over tables and broken ventilation pipes. Flora and Bloom hid behind a wooden pillar while Musa and I hid in the other direction.

"Their cover's not going to last long." Musa whispered to me.

"Don't worry," I said standing up, "I'll take care of it…" Then I transformed and used my shield to protect myself from the blasts.

"Shield!" I extended it from my arm before running to Bloom and Flora, using it to block Stella's attacks until I got to my friends, "You girls need a lift?" I asked as Flora grabbed on to me, and Bloom followed.

"Great timing, Tecna." Bloom called as Stella attacked the place where Bloom and Flora once hid. Bloom was right, it was good timing, and I suppose those one on one training sessions with Ms Faragonda paid off. As we ran, we heard Stella cackle wickedly.

"Ready to surrender?" She asked with her undertone of evilness. Stella either had a dark spell over her or… that wasn't really Stella, I couldn't tell for sure at the moment.

"That's enough, I'm sick of being your target!" Musa yelled.

"No Musa, don't react." Flora advised, "We can't hurt Stella."

"But that's not Stella," Bloom finally thought about it, and she saw the solution to this strangem mystery, "She has no powers without her ring," Then she stood up defiantly.

"All right, enough fooling around!" She yelled at the Stella lookalike.

"Right you are, little fairies, time to shed the disguise." She threw two power balls at the ground, and purple smoke rose from them to reveal that she was actually… Darcy, "And be myself once again." Then Stormy and Icy appeared on either side of their sister.

The witches," Bloom gasped as we heard them cackle a little, "Get ready girls!" Then, Musa, Flora and herself transformed. This was the first time we ever seen Bloom in her fairy form, it was a blue tube top with a collar around the neck with a gold broach, and matching skirt that went just above her knees. Her boots were similar to Flora's but in the same blue as the rest of her outfit. Her wings were light blue and curved at the bottom only to come up at a point where darker blue outlining was. The two shades of blue were separated by a line of gold. In her red hair, a golden crown appeared. I waited only milliseconds for the change to take affecT and I joined them in a fighting stance once they were done.

"Wait for me!" the man who had lead us here called to the witches, I knew he was in a disguise too, "Wait for me, me.., me too madam!"

"But of course, Knut." Darcy grinned, opening her palm to turn their ogre back to normal. As Icy laughed evilly, she pointed up to the ceiling. We all gasped in horror to see the real Stella, trapped in magic coils.

"Stella," Bloom breathed in shock.

"I'm really sorry!" Stella cried out, "The witches tricked me!"

"No need to apologize, it's not your fault." Bloom told her, trying to reassure her that all was forgiven, then she turned back to the witches, "Now what is it that you want?"

"Haven't you figured it out yet?" Icy snarled, "We want Stella's ring, of course... Poor Stella, prisoner of my disks of energy, squeezing her even tighter. You better hurry up." We watched as Stella struggled in Icy's energy disks, I was panicking slightly.

"The ring is very important to us." Darcy added.

"We got to have this ring, you weaklings, or…" Stormy threatened.

"Time's running out." Icy concluded, "You got to decide, Bloom, Stella's life, or the ring." Bloom glanced long and hard at Stella, as she stared painfully back at her. Whatever Bloom had to do, she could not give up the ring. The energy disks were squeezing Stella tighter, they looked like they were choking her. The witches continued to cackle, watching us. I expected to discover new things at Alfea, but to see one of my new friends' lives threatened was one thing I didn't expect to witness.

"This is blackmail!" Flora shouted.

"And we never give in to blackmailers!" I added, putting up my shield once more, if needed.

"Get ready, evil witches, for the thrashing of a lifetime." Musa threatened, pointing furiously at them. Suddenly, Bloom stood there, giving the witches the fiercest glance I've ever seen.

"I've made my choice." She finally spoke up, "No, we can't put Stella's life in danger." Then, she de-transformed.

"Bloom!" Musa called.

"All right, Icy, you guys win." Bloom announced as she stepped forward, and gave Stella's ring to the witch of ice, "But this time, keep your word."

"Normally I wouldn't, but I don't need her anymore." Icy scuffed as she snapped her fingers, and to Stella's pure relief, she was let go and fell to the floor with a surprised cry.

"We did it!" Icy declared as the witches began laughing evilly. After their victory, Icy threw the ring in the air and it extended into Stella's sceptre. "The sceptre is ours!" Icy cried triumphantly. Once Icy caught it, all three witches disappeared with their ogre. Bloom walked slowly toward Stella and knelt down beside her as she managed to get up and hug her.

"Let's go back to Alfea so you can rest." Bloom suggested to Stella. As we walked out, it was like the eerie vibe in the place had vanished, but all we could do was sulk in the failure of having Stella's ring taken away from us. We stared down at the pond that the bridge overlooked.

"We'd been had." Musa sighed in defeat, "We fell for it like amateurs."

"Well, maybe that's because we are amateurs." Stella replied exhaustedly.

"We could've beaten them, it was four against four." I protested with a hint of frustration.

"A battle could make things worse." Bloom insisted, "To me, the exchange was the best possible option, bar none."

"But who are you to decide for all of us?" I argued, sure, Stella was my friend and I wanted her to be safe, but the ring was a very valuable weapon, "You're not the boss!"

"Tecna, I would've done the same thing." Flora admitted to me.

"They might have scored a goal," Bloom phrased, "but the game isn't over yet."

"What are you talking about?" Stella asked weakly.

"What, you don't have soccer on your planet?" Bloom asked us.

"What's soccer?" Musa asked.

"Come, I'll show you." We followed Bloom to the other side of the bridge, "It's a game you play with a ball, let's take this for example." I didn't see any resemblance from an empty can with a ball, it just didn't seem like it would be a good example, it wasn't even a sphere.

"That's not a ball." I pointed out as Bloom kicked it.

"It's just an example Tecna." Stella sighed irritably.

"Now it goes like this." Bloom instructed, kicking it hard.

"I think we should leave your soccer lesson for another day, Bloom. As fun as it sounds, Stella needs rest, and we need to take a break after this adventure." Flora suggested.

"You're right." Bloom sighed as she walked alongside Stella, and we walked back into the city.

* * *

When we got back to the dorm, Stella gasped as she saw the destruction that Darcy caused.

"Oh Great Dragon, I'm so sorry!" She cried.

"No, don't feel that way, Stella." Bloom assured her, placing her hands on her best friend's shoulders.

"All those CDs were irreplaceable." Musa huffed.

"As were my inventions, I'm just glad my latest one is still intact." I added.

"That's enough, girls, you're making her feel worse!" Flora scolded.

"I'll call daddy." Stella replied exhaustedly, "Everything will be replaced, it's the least I could do."

"Stella." Bloom and the rest of us gathered in a big group hug with her, "Thank you."

"Do you forgive me?" Stella asked.

"There's nothing to forgive," Bloom told her, "it was all Darcy's doing. Now go rest." As Stella went to her room, we too collapsed on the chairs and coach. Bloom had got in contact with Brandon and Sky and told them all about what happened with Stella and that she was all right. Within a few days, we got our belongings replaced, however Musa's saxophone would never be the same. I was glad to have my computers back in action, and all my blueprints for every invention I ever made where saved on thumb drives, it would take a lot of time for me to rebuild them all. Though I guess it would be worth the hard work in the end. And I had to admit, Stella wasn't as self-centred as I first thought, she was kind enough to replace all of our belongings.

* * *

After classes the next day, Ms Faragonda called me into her office for an update on her mission to become my legal guardian under Magix' laws. Knowing that I was the only witness to the events that took place during my day to day life, I was the only evidence she had to defend my case. Being the headmistress of the Magical Dimension's best fairy school, everyone could vouch for her reliability and honesty. She had no children of her own, but looking out for the well being and safety of dozens of students on a daily basis made her more than a good candidate to be a legal guardian. Sitting at one of the chairs in front of her desk, I saw the serious, yet optimistic expression on her face.

"Tecna, I've sent in all the forms we need for a court hearing, and I received a letter for a notice. The hearing will take place in a couple of weeks." She began.

"That's good." I hesitated, swallowing the lump in my throat, I was not looking forward to revealing my entire life story to a courtroom full of strangers, even if it meant I would have someone to care for me and support me legally.

"I understand how you're feeling right now, you're uncomfortable with the idea of telling everything to the Magix Council and the court," she replied, "but you have to remember that every little detail counts. This is the biggest step towards your freedom that you can ever take. Also remember that everything that is said in that courtroom is under strict confidentiality and will be dealt with in great discretion. No one besides me and the members of the court will hear your story. I'll be with you every step of the way." I looked into the eyes of the elderly headmistress, something in her reassuring gaze always made me experience an emotion that I've never felt before. One day I hoped to figure out what that emotion is.

"Thank you Ms. Faragonda, for everything you're doing." I told her quietly, "you don't have to do this, but you did anyway."

"I told you before Tecna, when I first saw how badly you have been abused, I couldn't stand by and let you fight alone. You have no idea how dangerous the Magical Dimension is, facing it by yourself is highly illogical, even for you." She insisted, and I smiled at her weakly, she could just as easily turn my decision making skills against me, she was able to read me as easily as high level programming language, "Now go see your friends, and don't think too much about it. As long as you tell the court all you can and show them the bruises from you injections, we have a very strong case."

"Thank you again." I said, leaving the headmistress's office and heading back to the freshman dorms. I had no idea what would happen after Ms Faragonda was appointed my legal guardian, all she wanted was to make my life a lot easier, and despite having the control being taken out of my hands, I was very grateful for everything that happened since I came to Alfea


	6. Mission to Cloudtower

**Winx Club Episode Dialogue (c) Iginio Straffi And Rainbow S.r.l**

* * *

 **Chapter Six: Mission at Cloudtower**

A few days after we rescued Stella from the witches, it was Saturday and Bloom spent the first half of the day wondering why Stella's ring was so important for them to obtain. What was its history, what were its powers, and why did the witches want it so badly. She was determined to get it back from them, but the only thing she didn't know was how. Meanwhile, the rest of us just wanted to relax, especially me, I wanted to strategize any way to help Bloom out. We sat in the common room, Flora was watering the plants by the balcony, Musa had her her headphones in, I was on my palmtop looking over blueprints for the inventions that were destroyed by Darcy, and Stella was sulking, still disappointed about losing her ring. However, painting her fingernails and toenails took her mind off of it slightly. Flora finished watering all the plants we had in the suite, and sat down in the empty chair across from Stella, who had her foot on the coffee table while applying bright orange nail polish. I closed up my palmtop and turned to look at Musa beside me, she was in her own little world, head-banging to something that sounded to the rest of us like hard metal but was probably some really loud dance music. I was so lost in thought that I barely noticed the time pass, Stella finished polishing her nails, Flora took one of her books from her room to read, and Musa still had her headphones on, that is until she opened her eyes and took them off.

"Hey, where'd Bloom go?" She asked, putting her MP3 player on the coffee table.

"She went to the library to see if she could get some information on why the Trix wanted Stella's ring." Flora answered, looking up from her book.

"When did she leave, I didn't see her go out the door?" Musa continued.

"She left about forty five minutes and approximately eight seconds ago." I informed her.

"You were so busy in your own little world, you barely even noticed." Stella added.

"Well I can say the same for you when you're stuck in your little world of fashion magazines and gossip." Musa huffed.

"Hey, hey, let's not start arguing again." Flora interrupted both Musa and Stella. It seemed that lately we were getting at each other like viruses on an PC with outdated protection software, I know I had my fair share of times to be snapped at.

"Flora's right, we need to stop being at each other's throats and focus of what's important, getting my ring back." Just as she mentioned it, Bloom ran through the door.

"Girls, I found so much information on Stella's ring," She told us, out of breath, "I think I found out why the Trix may want it."

"All right, let's here it." Musa replied. We all gathered around in Bloom and Flora's bedroom to hear what she learned about the ring,

"So, in one of the books I read in Alfea's library, it says that your ring, Stella, is known as the Sword of Power, part of the lineal right of the princess of the sun and moon of Solaris," Bloom began, "that means it belongs to you."

"Of course it does, I could've told you that myself." Stella replied, "The sword ring has been in my family, well... forever."

"Yeah, but that doesn't tell us why the witches are so eager to have it." Bloom continued.

"Well, it is an important and valuable object." Flora added.

"The Trix aren't common criminals, there's got to be some thing to it." Stella pondered. I was pretty certain Stella was referring to the witches when she said this.

"Uh, excuse me, I must've missed something." Bloom asked curiously, "Who are.., the Trix?"

"Oh, well that's the nickname we gave our three _favourite_ witches." Musa explained. I stood silent beside her, listening to the information about Stella's Sword of Power. It seemed like it held a great amount of energy, and perhaps that was why the Trix would want it so bad, they wanted the power within it. The only question now would be why.

"Anyhow, I discovered some other very interesting things about your ring in the book I found at the library." Bloom continued, "According to the legend, the Sword of Solaris was created a long time ago, nobody remembers when. It was scalped out of a stone immersed in a spring of light, which still flows today, and is only one of the many gifts offered by the Great Sacred Fire." That sounded incredibly interesting, I had heard of the story of the Great Sacred Fire, but I never knew a lot about what it was. Was it some symbol, a representation of good versus evil? What was it?

"Whoa, and I thought the history of Solaris was ultra-boring." Stella thought with a laugh, and we joined in the laughter.

"Um, what is the Sacred Fire, exactly?" I inquired, and after I said that, I realized just how dumb I sounded right now. I should know the answer with all my knowledge, and access to the Magical information superhighway, but even I didn't know everything.

"Excellent question, Miss Tecna, very pleased you should ask." Bloom answered, mimicking Ms Griselda, and Flora picked up on it right away.

"Hey, you sound just like Griselda." Flora told Bloom, making us all laugh again. I experienced another strange feeling when I laughed, it was one of those feelings that was foreign to me, but strangely enough it didn't make me feel uneasy.

"Listen to this, the enchanted universe of the Magical Dimension as we know it, was created eons ago by the mythical dragon who sparked the Sacred Fire." Bloom continued, and by the time she was finished explaining the entire story of the mythical Dragon and the miracles of the Sacred Fire, we ended up walking around the outside of the school, yes it was that long of a story, but it was also incredibly fascinating.

"Hmm, did the Dragon exist for real or is it simply a mythical symbol?" Flora inquired once Bloom concluded her findings from the library.

"Well, I think it represents an idea, you know, the embodiment of good versus evil." I thought, it was only a rough estimate to what it could really mean.

"Yeah, sure, okay," Bloom paused, "uh, could you maybe repeat that in English?" What, what did I say that was so complicated to explain? It was a simple statement that I'd think anyone could comprehend! I felt myself getting slightly defensive inside, but this wasn't the time to act on it, so I let it go.

"Stella, you must know the story?" Musa asked Stella, but the princess of Solaria just looked as perplexed as the rest of us. We all knew Stella would consider shopping much more important than knowing about the history of the Magical Dimension.

"Uh, well, ancient history is not my strong point." Stella confessed in defeat.

"Oh of course," Flora began teasing her, "a princess has different priorities."

"Yeah, shopping, for instance." Stella answered. Just as I thought she'd say, not even interested in the history of her own realm, never-mind the history of the entire Magical Dimension. Stella sure has a lot of growing up to do before she can take the throne of Solaris.

"I'd like to know more about this dragon," Bloom replied, "I think I'll go back to the library, there's still too many questions left unanswered."

"All right, Bloom." Musa called out as we went our separate ways..

"See you later, Bloom." Flora called in unison with her. So Bloom headed back inside Alfea.

* * *

That night, we gathered around in Bloom and Flora's room, Ms Faragonda told Bloom more interesting facts about the Sacred Flame and the Dragon.

"So, what did Ms Faragonda tell you, Bloom," Flora asked.

"She told me that the story of the Dragon began a long time ago, before the beginning of the Magical Dimension. There was emptiness, darkness, and from it, there was a bright light, that's where the Dragon emerged, and created every single realm and galaxy that ever exists. Then when it grew tired, it rested in the realm of Domino, which used to be a very prosperous place. She told me that dark forces attacked Domino and took away the Dragon's Flame forever, and changed the Magical Dimension as we know it." Bloom explained.

"That's incredible, Bloom, I never knew how much the Dragon affected all of us." Musa pondered.

"Yeah, I had no idea that this Dragon created everything we know today." Stella added.

"That's just it," I stated, "we don't know that this is just a story, or if it actually is a fact."

"That's true, Tecna," Bloom replied, "but I want to learn a lot more about the Dragon's Flame from what I know now, who knows, it may not even be a myth."

"You seem really interested in this Dragon, Bloom." I replied.

"I know, something just pulls me in about it, as if I was meant to know this information, that it might have something to do with how I'm a fairy." She insisted. After a moment of quiet, Stella sighed, bringing the attention to something we've forgotten about all day.

"You know, I just want to get my ring back." She began, breaking our thoughts away from Bloom's discovery.

"Yeah, and I think we should be the ones to attack!" I agreed, full of determination.

"Tecna, we're not soldiers, how can we overpower Icy, Darcy and Stormy?" Flora asked me. Now that I thought about it, she did have a point, the witches easily beat us the very first time we encountered them, and they were seniors, they had power on a higher level than we did.

"By taking them by surprise," Bloom answered, waking up Kiko in the process, "This time we will go to their house."

"Yes, right into the lion's den!" Stella cheered, although her excitement suddenly turned into nervousness, "But, uh.., are you guys.., really sure that's the right thing to do?"

"Ah, relax," I reassured Stella, " we'll come up with a fool proof plan, you'll see."

"Remember the tunnels under the school that we discovered a while back? Let's use them to get to Cloud Tower." Bloom suggested, "Tonight when the whole of Alfea's fast asleep, the Winx will go into action!" As Bloom mentioned the tunnels, I closed my eyes and pictured them during the back to school gala when we stopped the Trix from sabotaging the Red Fountain students' gifts to us. I could pinpoint exactly where they were located and what they looked like, it was my gift of photographic memory, and it helped me out a lot in the past.

"Terrific idea, Bloom," Stella cheered, "so how are we going to do it?"

"I remembered where the door is that leads to the tunnel to Cloud Tower, and once we get there, we find the Trix' bedroom and fight back for Stella's ring!" Bloom explained, "We'll get back before midnight and no one will know but us and the Trix." And with a simple plan of action, we were ready.

* * *

After lights out that night, Bloom led the five of us out of our dorm and down hallway after hallway, being well aware of looking out for any of Alfea's facility. Once we reached the door to the underground tunnels, we snuck down the stairs.

"You can turn on the flashlight now Flora, no one can see us." Bloom whispered as a light flicked on, illuminating the earthy passageway onward. I was behind Flora, and Musa and Stella followed. I was not all too sure about sneaking into Cloudtower, I did say we should be the ones to make the next move, I just didn't think this would be it. Bloom continued to lead us through the tunnels as Flora held up the light, she didn't need a map, and because of my photographic memory, I could not just remember where things were, but events, phrases someone said, all of that was as if they were photos or videos playing in my head. This trait came in very handy when I first was allowed to roam the halls of Dr Tonson's buildi

* * *

ng, so I did not get lost, and I could find my way back to my bedroom at the end of the day. It would also be helpful for this particular mission, because we would need to know our way back through these tunnels. I was studying every inch of my surroundings to make sure I didn't miss a detail. We walked for precisely an hour, clear across the forest from Alfea to Cloud Tower. We were silent, until Flora spoke up.

"Um, are you sure this is the right way?" She asked Bloom nervously.

"Trust me, Flora," Bloom reassured her, "we'll arrive directly under Cloud Tower castle."

"I sure hope you're right, we don't really have time to waste if we want to be back by midnight." I stated.

"I have everything planned out, don't worry girls." Bloom continued to reassure us as we ventured on down the dark tunnel. I still had my doubts about this whole mission, we could get a very severe punishment if we ever got caught there. All I hoped would happen was that we fought the Trix, got Stella's ring back, with no damage to Cloud Tower whatsoever, and got back before anyone else, especially Ms Griselda, or Ms Faragonda, could see us. It wasn't long before we reached a long flight of steps.

"We're here." Bloom replied.

"Okay, so let's go going, we're so close to getting your ring, Stella." Flora exclaimed as we walked cautiously up the fifty-two flights of stairs to the dormitories of the Cloudtower witches. It felt like forever before we reached yet another door, which Bloom knew was the door into the hallway. Flora led the way as the door lifted itself and we entered the corridor.

"Wow, Bloom, you were right." Flora thought in awe.

"The underground entrance..." I began.

"To Cloudtower." Musa continued my statement.

"Now what do we do?" Flora asked Bloom.

"I guess we'll have to use our magic to find the Trix." Bloom suggested hesitantly. Suddenly we heard Darcy yelling, which made it a lot easier to determine where they were.

"Knut!" We heard her calling clear down the hallway.

"Then again, maybe not." Bloom continued, "You guys ready, this way, come on." We heard another voice answering Darcy, it was the ogre we encountered the very first time we met the Trix.

"I'm coming, I'm coming!" He yelled back as we began running towards all the yelling. We reached the area where we heard the commotion, however there was no one around, they must've left already.

"This must be the room of our three buddies." Bloom replied as she went into the witches' bedroom.

"Yes, and my nose tells me the ogre lives here too." Musa added, pinching her nose in total disgust. I could definitely smell it too, but I just ignored the retched smell and continue looking around.

"Let's get busy, Stella's ring could be anywhere around here." Flora insisted.

"And you know that the witches can come back anytime soon." I added, and so we began our search through the Trix' stuff to try and find the ring. I began looking around one of the nightstands, and noticed a doll underneath what I though was Icy's bed.

"Hey," I announced to the girls as I picked it up off the floor, "look what I found, kind of creepy, isn't it?"

"Want to see something creepy, look at this." Musa replied, stepping out of the Trix' closet with a baton of some kind in her hand, but when she pressed the button on it, spikes appeared on the top of the baton and nearly poked her eye out. At that moment I realized it wasn't just any doll that I had picked up, it was a voodoo doll, and I was immediately taken back by my findings.

"Hang on, I don't want that stupid thing!" I thought in protest, tossing it away, I was so disturbed by the fact that I touched a voodoo doll, and continued staring at it for a second, "Ha, really.., they're just sick." Honestly, I did not even wish to know who the person was, or even if she was still spelled. It was one dark magic spell I hoped never to be involved in, dangerous, unspeakable things could happen to those who are spelled by voodoo, and with one's life in the hands of a doll controlled by a witch.., it made me shudder just thinking about it, so I continued searching for Stella's ring elsewhere.

"But where could they have gone at this time of night?" Stella asked as she opened a jar, and held her nose when she did.

"They must've had a party in here." Bloom guessed, walking toward where Stella was searching. The Solarian princess walked toward her, and knelt down to look in the pile of dirt on the floor.

"Well, if these are the leftovers I'm sure glad they didn't invite me." Stella replied. Suddenly Bloom saw something in the dirt.

"Look!" She pointed out to Stella.

"It's the Sword Ring!" Stella cheered as she picked it up out of the pile of dirt, "Welcome home, little one, did you miss me?" She let out a sigh of great relief as she placed the ring on her finger, now we could go back to Alfea without anyone noticing us.

"So, can we go now?" I asked impatiently, I was not about to get caught on witch territory, especially considering I had no defence training, no way of fighting, and not to mention I wasn't supposed to be here at all. Musa and I walked toward the door that we came from, and I tried furiously for a minute to try and open the door, " Either the lock is broken, or there's a safety mechanism." Bloom walked toward another door and peeked her head out.

"There must be another way out." She thought, once we left the room, she felt each door down the hallway in order to figure out what was on the other side of them. Suddenly she stopped, and sensed something behind one of the doors in a far corridor from the witches' dorms.

"There's something behind this door," She told us, "I can just feel it. It's not a way out, it's something completely different."

"This is not the time to listen to your sixth sense," I advised her, "we got to get out of here."

"Just a minute, it could be important." Bloom insisted as she opened the door and we went into the big room on the other side. It was a huge room, with lots of bookshelves and podiums. We all gasped in amazement when we saw all the books.

"What a strange place." Flora thought.

"It's the archives," Bloom guessed as she walked over to a podium with a dragon's head on it, "who knows what's in these books, let's see." Then she took a gigantic book from the shelf and put it on the podium, and opened it. There was a bright light coming from the book as we all braced ourselves and covered our eyes.

"Wow, what was that?" Flora asked.

"I don't know," Bloom answered, "but the book is about a witch named Windy."

"Let's look at these other books," Stella suggested, "I bet there's a lot more interesting things here." A few of the girls started looking at the books, but I could sense that if we stayed here any longer, it would not end well.

"This one's about a fairy, Elinore DeLe Reshthur." Flora informed us about a book she was holding.

"This one's about a witch by the name of the Adagild, and that gives me the goosebumps." Musa added.

"Can you imagine," Bloom pondered curiously, "the history of every witch and fairy that ever existed, all in here."

"It's fascinating Bloom," I began getting very unsettled by everything around here, we got what we came for, so we might as well just leave, "but, um... what do you say we get out of here?"

"Oh please, pretty please, one more minute," Bloom begged me, "if there's a book about me somewhere in here I could find out more about myself and my powers." As much as Bloom was my friend, her insistence on trying to discover her origins and her powers not only set us back from a plan to get Stella's ring back, but now this same determination was bound to get us in a lot of danger. However I just let her do what she needed to do, and let her live with the consequences.

"Uh... okay, but let's do this quick." I gave in, I knew how much she wanted to find out more about herself, and if this was a way to do it, I couldn't deny her that chance.

"The book would probably look kind of new," She guessed, "maybe even have a coloured cover." Then, just as she said this, a book just happened to be there, on the podium. It was green with yellow decorations and a blue circle in the middle, the book had her name printed clear as day. This didn't feel right to me, the way it was just waiting for her, I suspected it may be a trap.

"Well, well, well." Bloom walked over to the book as we all followed her to investigate.

"Bloom, did you find it?" Flora asked her, she was about to open it, but an instinct told me to stop her, something inside me told me there were going to be serious consequences if she did.

"Maybe you shouldn't read it." I advised her as I placed my hand on the book, "Think about it, what if the book contains your future." I didn't want to tell her I sensed a trap, she might think I was ruining all the amazing discoveries she might find.

"So, what's the problem?" Stella asked, "I'd give my right arm to find out about my future, you know." I turned around to look at the Solarian princess.

"What the future has in store for us is not always pleasant," I warned both Bloom and Stella, "if I were you, I wouldn't do it, but it's your choice." I didn't want to sound like a pessimist over the matter, just airing on the side of caution.

"Hey, I just want to find out about my powers, Tecna, nothing more." Bloom insisted, "I just need to know where they come from. Just a quick peek." And so, Bloom reached her hand toward the strange book, when suddenly vines appeared from the pages, wrapping themselves around her wrist and arm as she struggled in surprise and horror. When she pulled away, the vines let go and disappeared. She stared at it for seconds before the seemingly harmless book turned green and vine-like, forming a face with an evil cackle, and just as suddenly as it transformed, it turned back to its harmless book-like appearance.

"What the Oblivion was that?" Stella shrieked in complete horror.

"I really couldn't say." Flora answered, her voice quivering as we began backing away from the podium the book was on.

"The... the book!" Bloom stuttered, just as frightened as the rest of us.

"Ooh, that book doesn't want to be read, let's get out of here." Musa pulled her away, as the redhead fairy was too shook up to move, "Come on!" As I ran toward the door that we entered from, it vanished instantly.

"Whoa, I don't want to sound like a pessimist." I began, feeling the wall to make sure the door wasn't just invisible, "But... um, I think we're in trouble." Then I turned around to face the others as they came to see what I was talking about.

"We got to find a solution, and right away." Bloom replied. I backed up from the wall towards Bloom, Flora and Stella, beginning to strike it, hoping that my magic could make the door reveal itself.

"Let's try a little... Tecna power!" I hit the wall with my magic, but as my technological energy vanished, all it revealed was dust.

"Not even a scratch." Stella replied.

"Now what?" Musa huffed, it was getting very late, and everything in this place was making it harder for us to get out.

"Power convergence." I suggested simply.

"She's right." Bloom agreed, "Bloom Magic Winx!" We followed her lead and transformed for the second time as a group, and finished in a fighting stance.

"Everybody ready," Bloom asked as we began attacking the vanished door, " all together.., now!" Then we shot all of our magic at the wall, and as the door reappeared, we ran as fast as our legs could carry us down the hallway after escaping the room, when suddenly we stopped to catch our breath.

"There doesn't seem to be a way out of this place." Flora replied, holding her chest while trying to catch her breath. I looked around, trying to determine if this was where we came from or not, at this moment was where my skills of photographic memory would come in, I knew right then and there, that this was not the corridor that we came in from.

"We've never been through this tunnel," I informed the girls, still trying to catch my own breath, "It's not the one we came from."

"How can you tell?" Stella asked me, "They all look the same."

"I have a photographic memory," I admitted, "I notice details."

"Please, guys, tell me we're not completely lost." Bloom begged with a worrisome voice as she walked up to us, we all didn't know what to say. I didn't know whether we were lost or not, all I knew was that this was not the corridor we were at before, but if I did see a hallway we did go through, then I would be able to tell them. Now, there was no such luck. Suddenly we heard rustling sounds coming from around the corner, and turned around in horror.

"Giant spiders!" Musa shuddered.

"They're everywhere." Bloom sounded just as frightened as Musa.

"Okay, what's the plan now?" Musa asked us, "I mean these things don't look too friendly." I had no idea what to do besides trap the spiders, but there were so many it would be impossible to do in the time that we had. The spiders began to corner us, they were coming very quickly.

"We have to create a protective shield, like a force field." Bloom instructed, so used our magic together to create a shield around ourselves as the spiders crawled closer towards us. They instantly caught fire and burned once they hit the barrier, and fell to the ground. Though, just seconds after the spiders burnt up, they re-materialized and came at us once again. It was then that Bloom noticed that the barrier was not as effective as we'd hoped.

"Oh no," She thought, " they've made a breach in our barrier. We've got to do something, quick!"

"Well, I've got an idea." Flora told us, "Ready, follow me." We sprung from our positions on the ground and flew straight up, huddling with our backs to one another.

"Got any bug spray?" Stella joked as the spiders swarmed below us. I admired Stella's attempt to make a bad situation funny, she and Musa were the same that way.

"No need for that, Stella, we'll use the spider's natural enemy." Flora advised with a slight giggle, then she blew some of her magic pollen on the ground, "Here you go, a beautiful spider eater." Suddenly a gigantic furry creature appeared from the ground. We watched as the spider eater grabbed the spiders with its long tongue and swallowed them with one bite.

"Goodness, Professor Palladium's lessons are good for something after all." Stella replied.

"Was there ever any doubt?" A big smile spread across Flora's face while we continued watching the spiders get squished, and eaten alive. Despite its obvious gruesomeness, I had to admit it was a very good idea, Flora usually had her own way of defence and I found her harmless techniques interesting. The spider eater proceeded to munch down on its small meal and once the swarm of spiders was devoured, it vanished from sight.

"You know what, something tells me we're not out of the woods yet." Bloom had told us that the expression came from Earth, and it meant that our mission did not end now.

"Bloom's right," I agreed as we touched down on the ground, "that was too easy."

"Hey, let's not sell ourselves short." Stella encouraged us as she flew in front of the group, "We simply dealt with the problem efficiently." Unknown to Stella, the mud from the crushed spiders suddenly began to form into a huge pile, growing minute by minute.

"Stella, not to rain on your parade, but maybe it's time to go." Musa gasped as the pile grew larger, and Stella's victorious laugh was stopped sort and she finally noticed the creature materializing. She gasped in surprise as she saw the mud finished changing, and then we began running away from it.

"Hurry!" I called out, "This way!" Bloom was in front of me, and the rest of the girls followed close behind as we continued to run. The creature was fast, and would be able to catch up to us soon enough.

"Come on, let's fly out of here!" Bloom instructed, "Ready, set, go!" And on her mark, we lifted off the ground and continued heading down the corridor. I looked straight ahead to figure out where we were going to have to go next, and Bloom flew up next to me, flying just as fast as I was. Seconds later, Musa flew in front of us.

"How do we get out of here?" She asked both of us, we looked back for a minute, and the creature was still following us. Stella searched for another turn in the hallway, and was about to suggest to follow it.

"Let's try this way!" She told us, but her idea wasn't as good as she expected.

"Watch out!" Bloom warned her before she she screamed in surprise, "It's a dead end!" We landed and realized what Bloom meant. That just meant that we had to figure out a plan to get rid of this pest as well. It seemed like Cloudtower had no end of traps and obstacles in store for intruders.

"What should we do?" Stella asked in a frightened voice. This was an easy solution, we defeat this creature the same way we defeated the giant spiders, by facing them head on.

"We have no choice," I told the other Winx, "let's take him on!" So, the girls and I braced ourselves in front of the blocked door, facing the oncoming monster. Determination burned in my eyes as I watched for the monster to come our way, and when it did, Bloom gave the final cue.

"Strike!" She shouted as we used our strongest magic to destroy the creature, in my opinion my magic wasn't even that strong. I had a feeling the rest of the girls did most of the work. After an explosion of magic, I put up my shield to protect the girls against the mud that would result from the destruction of the creature. Once I knew the mud creature was destroyed, I contracted my shield. Everyone looked at the door that was locked in front of us, and I knew exactly what to do.

"We have a problem," Stella pointed out as I ran for the door with the full force of my body, falling to my knees in the process, "not anymore." I looked up from the floor with a small gasp to see what looked like a storage room, there were a lot of things in here, chairs, tables, old books, and things I couldn't tell what they were by first glance.

"Where are we?" Flora asked.

"I've heard of rooms like this, but I never thought they really existed." Stella replied, "Witches are very messy creatures, instead of organizing the library catalogue and their stuff, they just chuck everything away like that."

"What an eerie silence," Musa observed, being the fairy of music, she would know when something is not right just by the sound of things, "I have a bad feeling..." Suddenly, another creature came crawling towards her, and she turned to it in complete fear.

"Ah, a beakle monster!" She continued shaking and panicking, but Stella came to help her right away.

"Don't worry, I'll take care of it," She reassured Musa as she attacked the creature, "Sun Shower!" There was a bright light, and the entire place caught on fire thanks to Stella's attack.

"But, where did it go?" Stella questioned, looking around in the flames, "Oh there it is, nipped it in the bud." Stella began laughing joyously because of her so-called success, not even noticing the flames rising throughout the room.

"Oh my goodness, we're going to roast!" She shouted as we braced ourselves from the impact of the heat.

"Thanks a lot Stella." Musa replied sarcastically as the flames surrounded us, receiving a huff from the Solarian princess. We all began huddling together as the ceiling light in the room fell to the ground from the flames.

"The smoke is so thick I can't breathe." Flora coughed. I could barely see through the smoke and flames, and Flora was right, our lungs would get damaged if we stayed in here for more than fifteen minutes.

"The flames are blocking the door," I replied emotionlessly, "we're trapped again." I stood there, still trying to figure out another way to get out of the burning room. We were all trying to devise a plan, and we were ready for any idea, any at all. It had been a few more minutes before Stella caught our attention.

"Hey everybody!" Stella called out as we all faced Bloom, " Look at Bloom!" The girls and I walked toward where Bloom was standing near what looked like a secret way out, she still looked completely mesmerized. We looked at what she had done, amazed, and we barely noticed it.

"Oh wow, way to go, girl." Stella continued to cheer for Bloom, "Bloom!" And with a friendly slap on the back, Bloom came to her senses to discover what she had done.

"What... What just happened?" Bloom asked, apparently she had no idea that she single handedly saved not just herself, but the rest of us as well.

"Never mind, we'll discuss this later," Musa insisted, "for now, let's get out of here!" And as she said this, the flames finally filled the rest of the room.

"You go first!" Stella replied, and the five of us slid down the chute to safety. I slid past Musa, and saw Bloom fall on the ground on her back. Unfortunate for her, I was about to land on top of her on my butt, not a very pleasant feeling, that was for sure. Then, Musa fell right beside me and Bloom, then Stella fell on her back, and finally Flora toppled right on top of us. We reached the underground tunnels that led back to Alfea, and I was grateful that we were finally out. We got off each other and began walking back through the tunnel.

"All right, how'd you pull that off?" I asked Bloom after a few minutes of walking.

"I heard this voice in my head," Bloom explained, confused, "It was telling me how to get to safety. It was a sweet, kind voice that spoke to me through the flames."

"Well, whatever it was, it got us out of a hot spot, that's for sure." Stella replied, then for no apparent reason, she stuck her tongue out at Musa, real mature Stella.

"Stella, you're so funny," I laughed sarcastically, "I just bust a gut." As Musa saw Stella stick her tongue out, she turned and shot her tongue right back at her.

"Hey, our plan worked, the witches don't have my Sword Ring anymore." Stella cheered, "The Winx have got the power!" And with that, she began looking at it and admiring it on her finger. The girls and I continued our long journey back to Alfea School, it was about forty-five minutes later when we began to talk again, we were so exhausted that the walking just became silent and, at times, awkward.

"So, Tecna, do you know the time?" Musa asked me.

"Uh, oh," I thought out loud, looking at my watch when it materialized over my Magic Winx form's sleeve, "this is not good."

"What, what is it?" Bloom asked me worriedly.

"By the time we arrive at Alfea, it will be breakfast." I informed them worriedly.

"Well, we are still in our Magic Winx forms," Stella pointed out, "couldn't we just fly through these tunnels?"

"That would be a little too dangerous," I told Stella logically, "our fast motion might cause the structure of the tunnels to collapse."

"Let's just sneak in and hope that we're not seen by Ms Griselda." Bloom suggested. I highly doubted that we were going to get off without a punishment of some kind, any kind. Someone was bound to notice the damage we left to the rooms of Cloudtower. At least we would know for sure when we reached the school for fairies.

* * *

Finally, we reached Alfea's hallways, and just as expected, it was early morning, and by now, we were ready to fall asleep right where we stood, at least I was anyway. Something felt really weird to me, as if I could pass out that second, but I kept focused just enough to hopefully reach our dormitory.

"Oh, I can't wait to get some rest." Flora replied.

"You can say that again," Bloom agreed, "I'm so tired I don't think I'll have the energy to go to school today."

"Yeah," Musa added, "it's time to cash in a sick day." With that, Musa and Bloom began laughing weakly until we all heard someone clearing their throat. And just as I expected, there was Ms Griselda standing right in front of us.

"Obviously you enjoy breaking the rules," She began sternly, " you are in big trouble, young ladies."

"Yes, ma'am." We all sighed as we followed her toward Ms Faragonda's office. I knew this would happen, I just knew it. I just didn't want to say anything because I wanted the girls to know for themselves what could happen, I just didn't think it would escalate this much.

* * *

In Ms Faragonda's office, we stood in front of her desk, and I was still forcing myself to keep my eyes open and my body standing straight.

"This morning, I received a message from Professor Griffin, the Headwitchtress of Cloudtower," She began, I knew it, I know those tricks with the book and the spiders were a warning, " My colleague was furious, she tells me you broke into her school last night, is that true? I won't tolerate this kind of behaviour in my institution. Now what do you have to say for yourselves?"

"We're real-" Bloom began to explain, but Ms Griselda cleared her throat to stop her from speaking any further.

"Ma'am, if I may, what ever their reason is for doing what they did, their punishment should be exemplary." Ms Griselda told the Alfea Headmistress.

"What do you mean?" Ms Faragonda asked Ms Griselda.

"Seeing that these students went out without permission, I would suggest they be grounded, and their magic powers revoked until such date as you deem adequate." Ms Griselda continued harshly, and took us all by surprise. What, we were getting our powers taken away? I barely got to use them and now I can't even use them at all. Well, what did I expect when I followed the girls on a dangerous mission onto the Trix' territory. I also expected to have a private conversation with Ms Faragonda after she specifically told me to stay on school grounds for my safety. Bloom hung her head as she heard what was going to happen, it serves her right for dragging us along while her curiosity put her in danger, and now everyone was going to face the consequences.

"But ma'am, you wouldn't do that, would you?" Stella asked worriedly, she of all of us would have to be the most concerned about losing her powers, after all the trouble we went through to get her ring, and now she couldn't even use it.

"Wouldn't I? There are very few things I wouldn't do." The Alfea Headmistress replied as she released her magical energy as it surrounding us, "And revoking your powers is not one of them." I could feel my powers draining suddenly, it felt almost the same as having my emotions taken away.

"Now, since you girls will not have your powers, you are suspended from classes until your punishment ends." Ms Griselda continued. If it weren't for the fact that we had just got our powers taken away from us, Stella would be cheering.

"Yes, ma'am." We answered sadly as we walked out of Ms Faragonda's office, though, I was about to leave when she stopped me.

"And Tecna, I will take to you in private later today." She replied evenly, "For now, get some rest."

"Yes, Ms Faragonda." I sighed, following the girls out of her office and back to our dormitory.

* * *

Bloom opened the door to our suite and we walked inside, collapsing on the chairs and couch.

"Tecna, why did Ms Faragonda want to see you again later?" Musa asked me, though, her voice sounded so far away, and my vision became hazy.

"Are you okay?" Flora asked, suddenly I passed out on the floor from pure exhaustion...

* * *

I opened my eyes to see my four friends looking down at me with concerned faces, I was on the couch when I got my bearings.

"What just happened?" I asked tiredly.

"We should ask you the same thing?" Stella replied curiously.

"Honestly, I don't know what happened." I admitted to them, trying to sit up, but I was still quite dizzy.

"Well, we did stay up all night long, maybe it has something to do with that." Flora thought.

"We're all very exhausted, what makes Tecna so tired that she just passes out like that?" Stella inquired.

"It's no big deal," I lied, but this was very disconcerting, "I'll just go take a nap and I should be okay."

"All right." The girls answered in unison as I stumbled toward my bedroom and fell weakly on my bed, wrapping myself in the blanket without even caring to change clothes. I didn't even have time to think before I passed out again.

* * *

Later on that day, I was still pretty tired, but at least I could stand and keep my eyes open, we were all in Stella's bedroom, and the Solarian Princess herself was laying on her bed.

"I think we should just lay down and veg out a while." She suggested.

"Maybe if you hadn't challenged Faragonda, she've gone easier on us." Flora scolded her.

"I don't think that would've changed anything." I stated, "Really, I'm sure she knows exactly what happened last night." I thought this was going to be a long few days without our powers.

"She must think we're very naive for being taken in by that trick with Bloom's book." Musa huffed, "But how were we to know it was a trap?"

"And now we're totally powerless," Bloom sighed, "for me it's not so bad, I've lived my whole life without powers... We've got to get them back, this is the only way we can solve this mystery. I know how we can regain our powers, I just say the word, Winx." Honestly, I had no idea what Bloom was talking about, what mystery was she referring to? We have Stella's ring back, was she still curious as to why they wanted it in the first place? I don't think it was that important anymore, the important thing was that we get our powers back. I was also not looking forward to my conversation with Ms Faragonda later, she was not going to be happy with the fact that I took part in this entire thing, and to make matters worse, I wasn't strong enough to fight, never mind go into witch territory, this was bad.

* * *

At approximately three O clock that day, I slowly and nervously knocked on Ms Faragonda's office door, waiting for her to answer.

"Come in." I heard her answer from the other side, and I entered, not feeling too proud of myself at the moment, "Tecna, just the fairy I wanted to see. What did you think you were doing, going to Cloudtower? You put yourself in very serious danger, and as your soon to be legal guardian, I am liable for anything that happens to you."

"All we wanted to do was get Stella's ring back from a group of three Cloudtower witches, but Bloom insisted that we go straight to the school to do it!" I protested hastily.

"So you followed her blindly into enemy territory without thinking about the consequences, you know full well that you don't have enough defence skills to survive!" The headmistress's voice was not harsh, but it was firm, and deadly serious.

"I tried telling her that we should get out as soon as we got Stella's ring, but Bloom was so interested in this book in the Cloudtower archives that-" I continued, only to be interrupted.

"Professor Griffin saw that, but that doesn't matter, Tecna, this has nothing to do with Stella or Bloom, this has everything to do with you." Ms Faragonda scolded me.

"I tried to be the voice of reason, but that's not relevant, I should've tried to persuade them not to do it" I sighed

"Not only that," Ms Faragonda told me, "but even if they did still go to Cloudtower, you don't have to follow their example. If an instinct tells you that something is wrong, listen to it."

"Okay Ms Faragonda." I replied.

"The Magical Dimension is a very dangerous place, and for someone with absolutely no experience in fighting with magic, you're making yourself very vulnerable by going to these places, even with your friends." The Alfea headmistress advised me warmly, I thought about asking her about what happened this morning, maybe she might have an idea what caused me to pass out like I did.

"Ms Faragonda, something happened this morning that I want to ask you about. As soon as I entered my dorm, I lost consciousness."

"Oh my, how do you feel now, you did look like you were about to faint when you were in my office this morning. That's why I told you to get some rest."

"I feel slightly better, but it doesn't make sense, the rest of the girls spent the entire night awake, so why was I the only one who fainted?" I inquired.

"Well, because you don't use your magic as much as other fairies do, and because you're considered weaker than other fairies, you can't afford to pull all-nighters like that, or else your physical energy drains much faster. Though I think there is much more to this than not using your magic, take Bloom for instance, she lived her whole life without magic and is just beginning to use it, and she isn't having these strange fainting spells. We'll figure this out, Tecna, but in the meantime, be aware that you can't be staying up all night, or this is what's going to happen." She explained.

"Thank you, Ms Faragonda." I replied, beginning to leave her office.

"If there are any more questions, feel free to ask." And with that, I headed back toward my dorm room, however on my way, my pager beeped, it was from Damian. He was the Red Fountain specialist I met at Alfea's back to school gala who I promised to help him learn how to use his technological devices.

"Hey, Tecna, I don't suppose you could help me, I've lost internet connection on my phone." He told me.

"All right, you should have access to Red Fountain's MiFi network, right?" I inquired.

"My phone won't pick up any close by networks, do you think you can come over and take a look at it?" He pleaded, I was not about to walk over to Red Fountain just to look at a cellphone which could easily be brought to me.

"I would, but I just got in trouble with the headmistress and I'm not allowed to leave school grounds. If you really need my help this urgently, we can do this over the phone, or you will have to come to Alfea." I replied, and his expression on the hologram of my pager began to get angry, but he quickly shook it off.

"Fine, I'll be over in fifteen minutes." He sighed irritably. Something told me this man could be set off faster than malware once it's downloaded, but perhaps he had a good side that I didn't see yet. Damian met me in front of Alfea after ten minutes, and showed me his cellphone. After checking his MiFi settings I noticed the cause of his problem.

"You had your phone on airplane mode, that's why you couldn't pick up any networks. See, there's Alfea's MiFi network right here." I explained.

"How did you do that?" He asked, and I was fighting the urge not to face palm myself. It was so easy I don't know how he would have missed it.

"It's simple," I began, gritting my teeth, "in your MiFi settings you should see airplane mode right at the top. Just switch the toggle to off and it automatically turns your MiFi back on..., are you listening?" But he just stood there dumbfounded while I showed him what to do.

"Yeah, sure thanks." He mumbled, snatching his cellphone from my hands and driving off, leaving me baffled and a little irritated myself. Did he even watch when I explained how to get airplane mode off his phone, or did he just want me to do it for him? Whatever he wanted, it would not serve him well in the long run. I turned to walk back into the school for fairies, a wave of frustration washing over me, however I successfully managed to push it down by the time I reached the suite.-


	7. Friends in Need

**Yes, after a long wait, I have finally updated this fanfiction. I have not forgotten about it. Again I felt like this chapter was just filler, since Tecna was more of an observer than taking action herself. Although I will say I had to make some progress in the TecnaxTimmy friendship. Next chapter you will finally get to meet Elyssa for the first time and find out why I promote her so much. I've stated before in a weekly update that I want to keep her as a background supporting character and not have her take the spotlight away from Tecna.**

 **Winx Club Episode Dialogue (c) Iginio Straffi And Rainbow S.r.l**

* * *

 **Chapter Seven: Friends in Need**

As I returned to our suite, I saw Stella was reading a gossip magazine, Bloom was studying more about the mythical Dragon who sparked the Sacred Fire, Flora was tending to the plants and Musa was in her room, organizing her CDs according to genre and artist. Instantly Flora looked up from potting new plant seeds.

"Ms Griselda wants to see us in her office immediately." I informed the rest of my roommates, "I have a feeling she's not going to let us off as easily as Ms Faragonda did."

"What punishment could she have in mind?" Flora asked as she placed the empty seed packet in a paper cup to take back to her bedroom later.

"The best way to find out is to face it head on." The read head fire fairy advised us, as her Solarian best friend tossed the magazine she was reading on the coffee table and groaned in irritation white the five of us left for the office of Alfea's head of discipline,

* * *

Not even fifteen minutes later, we were all standing in front of Ms Griselda's desk, listening to what she had decided would be our punishment for going out without permission and breaking into the school for witches.

"Your intrusion into Cloud Tower castle was extremely rude, young ladies." She began to lecture us, "You exposed yourselves to great danger, that's the reason why your powers have been revoked. It is sufficient punishment.., for me, however, sufficient is not enough. Now just so you remember this lesson, you will spend the entire day at school, and you will clean the castle from top to bottom." The conclusion she came up with made me wonder how much time she had to think about this, she must really enjoy her job.

"Um, the _whole_ castle?" Flora inquired with a hint of uncertainty to her tone..

"No," Ms Griselda clarified, "just the stairs, corridors, classrooms and bathrooms."

"Oh well, then that's okay." Stella sighed as I noticed Bloom giggle slightly beside her, "I thought it'd be worse, honestly." Ms Griselda continued explaining our task, releasing magic from her hands as it swirled within the air, causing some type of primitive tools appear before us. As I watched them materialize, l gaped at them with wonder. I have never seen such objects in my entire life, what in the Magical Dimension were these things and how were we supposed to use them?

"And since you do not have access to your magic power for the moment, these are your work tools." She continued, taking a long stick with bristles at the end of it and giving it to Stella. My first instinct was to analyze it with my palmtop, just so I gain more knowledge about what these tools were and how to use them.

"What a strange object," I pondered, taking out my palmtop and beginning to enter some search terms, "let's see what my computer says about it." I was about to get the information I needed, when Ms Griselda came up in front of me.

"Oh, and one more thing," She began sternly, pushing my palmtop closed as I moved my hand My away, "no techno gadget allowed!" What, this wasn't good, how was I able to know how to use these primitive tools without my palmtop? I was in more trouble than a computer that had frozen due to too much data input all at once.

"Now that worries me." I admitted softly as Ms Griselda took my palmtop from my hands and putting it behind her back.

"Yeah, it shows," Musa acknowledged sarcastically, "The sad news has obviously upset you."

"Well, by Tecna's standards, she's actually shown too much emotion." Flora continued teasing the me. They had no idea just how much emotion I could show, and the simple fact that if I was to display such emotion at home, I'd be severely punished. These weren't my standards, they were my only option.

"I know, ever since I met your guys, I easily loose control." I felt as though I could admit my faults to the girls and not be shamed for it, however my confession was met with a outburst laughter, "It wasn't a joke, it was a simple observation!" No matter what, I just couldn't win, if I was too logical, people assumed I was half a robot, if I showed just the slightest bit of emotion, I get punished or teased for acting differently than usual. I suppose there was one good thing about living in isolation, no one can make you feel inadequate.

"Young ladies!" Ms Griselda interrupted the girls' laughter, trying to focus our attention back to her.

"Ssh," Flora hushed them, "quiet!" The rest of the girls stopped laughing abruptly and turned back towards Ms. Griselda.

"Tomorrow I'll conduct an inspection," She concluded, "everything better be clean, now go!" So, we all took our cleaning tools and left her office.

* * *

The girls and I stood in the hallway with the cleaning supplies, going over who was going to do what, and how we were going to accomplish this enormous task.

"So, where should we start?" Flora asked.

"Why don't we start in the auditorium?" Bloom suggested, "it's the second biggest room we were assigned to clean. Do the biggest areas of the school first."

"What about the divide and conquer algorithm." I pointed out, "Someone could do the main stairs at the same time as someone else does the auditorium."

"You do have a point there, Tecna." Musa agreed.

"Okay, you and Flora can start on the stairs, the rest of us will do the auditorium, since it's the bigger room with more space to cover." Bloom instructed. Flora and I nodded in agreement and dragged our cleaning supplies to the stairs leading from the staff offices down to the main entrance. When we got there, we stood there wondering where we were going to start.

"It's not hard to use a broom, want me to show you how?" Flora's kind offer to assist me in a new learning experience was tempting, however I was not one to appear simple minded in the face of a new challenge. I was willing to prove to Flora, and everyone else that I didn't necessarily need my electronics to figure things out, although it was a personal preference. I expected this to be one of the challenges of being out in the Magical Dimension on my own.

"Nah, I'm sure I can figure out how to use these primitive implements." I insisted, lifting up a large container, looking inside to observe it.

"Are you sure?" Flora pressed.

"Of course." I reassured her, placing the container on my head like some sort of helmet, it wasn't

that effective, but I suppose it had to be used for something.

"Are you really, really sure you don't need any... help?" She continued to press, at this point something told me that she knew more about these objects than I did, but I was determined, I had to figure it out myself, I'm not about to look stupid in front of someone who barely even knew me for more than a month or so.

"I can handle the situation, Flora, don't worry." I insisted firmly, taking the long stick and feeling the bristles with my fingers, then I flipped it so that the bristles were facing upwards, and moved it around to get the dust off, "See."

"Indeed I see." Flora replied with an amused smile on her face, she watched me use the tool closely. I continued to swing the broom back and forth against the picture frame, suddenly it fell to the ground and the glass smashed by my feet, maybe Flora was right all along.

"I think I might have done something wrong." I admitted, of course this was stating the obvious, but this was very humiliating by my standards, I hated being wrong.

"Now would you like me to help you?" Flora asked me in her sweet voice, in Ms. Griselda's office she was the only one who didn't laugh when I admitted my faults, and she didn't laugh now at my failed attempt at using the broom.

"All right, Flora, I give up." I sighed in defeat, "I guess I'm not as smart as I make myself out to be." I stepped cautiously out of the way of the broken glass and sat on a safe spot on the stairs, tossing the container that I had on my head aside.

"Tecna, you love to learn new things, right?" She inquired, placing her hand on my shoulder as I looked up at her.

"Yes, it's my favourite pastime." I told her, and she just continued to smile at me with reassurance.

"Sometimes, a part of learning new things is knowing when to ask for help, no one is ever able to figure everything out by themselves." The fairy of nature advised me, and I took her words into consideration for a few minutes. Then she took the broom and began to to demonstrate the proper way to use it, making a sweeping motion, moving the broken frame pieces in a pile.

"I'm going to go find a dust pan for this, you sweep the rest of the stairs until I get back, and then I'll show you more." She told me.

"Are you sure you think I can do this on my own?" I asked her with a hint of uncertainty.

"Well, you did watch how I used the broom, right?" Flora asked me.

"Yes, I observed it very thoroughly." I answered.

"You love to learn new things, and I have total faith in you." She reassured me with another smile as she left to find a dust pan. I had the broom in my hand, and did the precise motions that I saw Flora do just moments ago, sweeping all of the dirt I found into the pile with the frame pieces, then I proceeded to sweep my first staircase. I did the same thing that I did on the top of the main staircase where Flora and I had started, sweeping the dust from each stair in a small pile, then pushing it down towards the bottom of the stairs to add to the big pile. After a while I got quite far by the time Flora returned, she looked impressed by my work.

"It's looking great, Tecna," She told me with sincere encouragement, "not bad at all for your first try, and alone for that matter."

"Do you really think so?" I asked in surprise. I suppose learning something new didn't necessarily mean I had to do it alone.

"I really mean it, now I'll show you how to use the dust pan," Flora replied, setting the dust pan beside the ever growing pile of dirt, and I handed her the broom, "Just sweep the pile right into the pan. Now you try." She passed me back the broom, and I followed her instructions and continued to push the rest of the pile in the dust pan.

"Did I do it right?" I asked her.

"You did it right, Tecna." Flora reassured me, making sure all the dirt was on the pan, "I'll just put this in the garbage while you continue with those stairs, and then I'll do the ones on the other side. Then we can do the ones going downstairs together."

"That sounds like a good plan." I agreed. Once Flora came back, she had a small trash can with her. I had finished most of the stairs by the time she returned, and there was a new pile at the bottom which she was glad to pick up. She the broom from me and insisted that I take a break while she did the second set of stairs. I wasn't sure if I should, what if Ms Griselda caught us while Flora was hard at work sweeping the staircase and I wasn't doing anything? Although it only took her approximately ten minutes to sweep the opposite set of stairs.

"Okay, Tecna, now we can work on the third staircase together." She told me kindly, "Bloom and the others are already done sweeping the auditorium, she let me borrow hers." She

"Are you sure they're not just slacking off?" I asked her.

"Bloom and Musa sure aren't, but I don't know about our Solarian friend." Flora giggled slightly.

"That's our Stella." I thought, beginning to laugh along with her. She proceeded to sweep the top half of the main staircase as I swept the bottom half, and we met in the middle. She pushed our dirt pile in the dust pan and dumped our final pile in the trash bin.

"Now for the mopping." She told me, "It's not that hard, would you like to go fill that bucket with water." So that's what the container was used for, it was to hold water. Given the instructions, I headed toward the nearest bathroom with the bucket in hand, and placed it under the tap.

"How are you doing in here?" Flora asked. After the bucket was full, she helped me carry the full bucket back to the stairs.

"So, here is how you start, just dip the mop in the bucket, take it out, make sure that the extra water is strained out, and put it on the floor. Then move it around so the floor gets wet." She informed me while demonstrating step by step how to use the peculiar object.. It looked pretty simple to do. After her lesson, she gave the mop to me to try.

"This thing is so heavy." I groaned, dunking the mop in the water, then placing it the stairs, though as I began mopping, I fell backwards, spilling the water bucket in the process, "Just great."

"Don't worry about it." Flora assured me as she took the mop from me and helped me up. My clothes were completely soaked from the warm water, "You just go change and I'll clean up the spilled water, then we can start again." After changing into a clean and dry version of my classic casual wear, I met Flora back in the main entrance. She had already mopped some more stairs with the spilled water and filled the bucket again. I was willing to try again, so Flora handed the mop to me. This time, however, I didn't fall under the weight of the wet mop, and was able to continue doing a few more stairs at a time. Within another half hour, we had completed the three sets of stairs in Alfea's main entrance.

"Now that we're done here, let's go see how the other girls are getting along." Flora suggested. She and I walked into the auditorium, where we were surprised to find the place was covered in water, and the three other Winx Club members were either on the floor or on the desk.

"What happened here, a tornado?" Flora gasped.

"A tough battle's just ended, and I won by a landslide." Stella explained victoriously, she was sitting on the desk, and I happened to notice her accessory kit right next to her. Just as Flora was saying, she was the one slacking off.

"Liar!" Bloom laughed as she turned to get off of the soaked floor. I was worried that because the rest of our team was playing when they were supposed to be cleaning, it would cost us any chance of getting our powers back any time soon.

"I won!" Musa protested, sitting up from her position lying on the desk beside Stella.

"What a wreck." Flora thought unhappily, at least I spilled my water while trying to do the job, instead of having a water fight.

"We'll never finish this part." I agreed, suddenly we all heard a very familiar, very unsatisfied voice coming in the room.

"I dare say.., not!" Ms Griselda began, "I'm here to let you know that this evening at the Magix auditorium, there will be a concert which the whole of Alfea will attend."

"Great I love concerts!" Stella cheered, and I had to fight the urge not to palm my face while she completely disregarded the entire point of why Ms Griselda was informing us about this.

"However, you five will have to miss it," Ms Griselda continued, "You haven't finished cleaning yet!"

"Oh no!" Musa exclaimed, I knew this would be disappointing for her.

"Now get back to work!" Ms Griselda ordered, and with that, she left. So, every one of us began cleaning up the water that was on the floor. After we finished the large auditorium, we began with every bathroom in Alfea, we had made great strides in cleaning the school before the rest of Alfea's students and staff had to leave for the concert in Magix.

* * *

By the end of the day, we watched out the window as everyone boarded the buses. Ms Griselda was about to board the last bus when she looked back at us through the window, then she continued to walk on board. Once the multiple bus loads of students and staff were out of sight, Bloom turned to the rest of us after watching from the window.

"Well, they've all gone." She sighed.

"I always feel sad when the school is empty." Musa admitted, knowing about the loss of her mother, I could understand that any type of loneliness would make her sad. I asked her once how I could be feeling her sadness when I myself had never experienced it. She explained to me that I was learning empathy, putting myself in someone else's shoes, as she put it.

"Hey, what do you say we ask the boys to join us?" Stella suggested right out of nowhere. First, she makes the majority of our team leg behind for whatever illogical reason, making them start a water fight when they were supposed to be cleaning, and now she wants the Specialists to help us with the rest, so when Ms Griselda finds us with them, our punishment would be increased exponentially.

"Yeah, why not," Flora stated sarcastically, "then when we get caught, we'll be grounded to infinity."

"I think it's a great idea," Bloom admitted, while Flora sighed exasperatedly, "sure, they could The help us with the cleaning."

"But its like cheating, isn't it?" I asked quizzically.

"Mm, mm," Bloom shook her head, "Griselda said no magic, no techno gadget, did not say no flesh and blood."

"Of course!" Stella agreed excitedly, throwing her bucket and broom on the floor, "And when we're done cleaning, we can have a nice party!" Oh Stella, the more you say, the more I want to palm myself in the face.

"It's a wonderful idea!" Musa agreed, at least one positive thing could come out of this, she could still enjoy the party she was looking forward to attending.

"I can't wait!" Bloom shouted excitedly, and once again, Flora and I were out voted as we watched the rest of the girls jump in the air and cheer.

 **Timmy's Point of View**

I hadn't seen Tecna since we were looking for the escaped troll in Black Mud Swamp, in fact, I haven't gotten in contact with her after that. Though, the way she abruptly stopped walking in the middle of the swamp, standing there with her hand in her pocket made me worry, it was almost as if she was recharging herself, though I should never say that, I knew nothing about her and making such assumptions was just wrong. Despite being apart for a while, I couldn't take my mind off her, there had to be a reason why I was assigned to protect her, and not keeping any contact with her means I'm obviously not doing my job. I was sitting at my computer desk, while Sky and Brandon were doing homework, when suddenly Sky's cellphone rang.

"Hey Stella." He began after answering the call, "Yeah, of course I'd like to come over... The other guys? I'm not sure."

"I'm up for it!" Brandon shouted from his place on his bed, covered in books and papers, "I'd love to see Bloom again."

"Brandon's in." Sky told Stella over the phone, then turned towards me, "Timmy, want to go to a party the girls are having while everyone else is at that concert in Magix?" It would be a good opportunity to talk to Tecna again, or at least make sure she was okay. There had to be a way I could know when she was in danger and not appear as a stalker, or even just plain creepy. I didn't want to go around following her, but I needed to do my job as best I could at the same time. My strategy was to become friends with her over time, that way I'll have more chances to be around her and go on more missions with her.

"Sure, why not." I admitted optimistically after a moment of thought, just then I heard footsteps coming into our room. Why wasn't I not surprised, it was Riven.

"That's a first," he laughed hysterically, "Usually you're too much of a wuss to set foot at any social gathering. What happened, someone end up spiking your coffee this morning?"

"Dude, give the guy some credit, he's opening up for once," Sky encouraged me proudly, "Kudos man." I just chuckled slightly and thanked him before we all got ready to leave for Alfea. Riven snickered behind me, saying he was only coming along just so he could continue to humiliate me the way he did at the dance, I swear he thought that was his life's purpose. Twenty minutes after leaving Red Fountain, Brandon pulled over for a moment to text Stella back, letting her know that we'd be there in about five minutes. As the guys and I approached the school for fairies, we saw the blonde princess of Solaria waving us over.

"You guys sure didn't waste any time, it's great to see you!" She greeted Sky enthusiastically, practically throwing herself on him as struggled to get off his hover bike.

"Hey, you know us, when it comes to partying, the Specialists take matters very seriously." Brandon joked, and she just responded with a giggle. I just smiled innocently with his statement, while Riven just shrugged in disagreement. After getting off our hover bikes, we followed Stella inside the school, when I saw her, Tecna, standing with the rest of her friends.

"Hey Bloom!" Brandon greeted her warmly and received a smile from the red head in return. Of course Stella was already draped around Sky's arm, and Riven was keeping his distance and took his position leaning against a wall. Being in a room full of girls, I began to get a little nervous, I had nothing else to occupy my thoughts but trying to talk to Tecna, and I remembered the last time that happened, I ended up with piss drenched pants. At least when we were in Black Mud Swamp, I had an objective, a mission to achieve, and that was to find the troll. Although we didn't find it, it kept me focused enough not to turn into the usual nervous wreck that I've always been around women. The more I thought about it, the more I think General Tyler purposely assigned me to Tecna's case because he knew she was a technology fairy, and a very beautiful one at that. He knew how chicken I was around women and just being assigned to one so intimidatingly amazing guarantees I'd screw up big time. I was so deep in thought that when she turned to look at me, it took me by surprise. A moment later she slowly walked up to me. Oh Great Dragon, she's going to talk to me, I just hoped that Brandon brought me a back up pair of pants. I got so flustered, I started fiddling with a pen from my pocket.

"Hi... Timmy." Tecna began shyly, and I looked up in her direction, she was even more stunning than I remembered, even the picture General Tyler gave me for a reference didn't do justice to seeing her face to face.

"Hi Te... Tecna." I stuttered nervously, damn it, I could not even get a word out of my mouth. I could see Riven eyeing me from the corner of the room, just waiting for me to embarrass myself in front of her, then I suddenly thought of something, "I just bought a brand new simulation game and, um.., if you want I can lend it to you to try out. I.., um.., remembered you love doing that kind of thing." Obviously Timmy, you're such a moron!

"Sure, what's the game about?" Tecna inquired, she genuinely sounded intrigued, that was a good sign.

"It's just one of those classic shooter games, you use laser attacks against your opponents in a battlefield." I explained, I was getting a little more confident the more I started talking about the game. Maybe technology was the key, that was what I could talk to her about without embarrassing myself or getting flustered.

"Interesting, though I don't know when I'll see you again after this." She said slowly, that was true, it could be another few weeks before we ever met up.

"There's no hurry, I guess, I'm sure I'll get a chance to give it to you." I reassured her. This conversation was going better than I fought it would, I turned in Riven's direction and gave him a cocky smirk for a brief second, and his response was a derisive laugh under his breath. Well at least I didn't leave with wet pants. Suddenly I saw Flora in the corner of my eye, coming to greet us.

"Let's start cleaning the main entrance." Flora called out. What was she talking about, I wasn't told anything about cleaning, and I had a feeling that Sky wasn't informed either.

"Cleaning?" I asked with confusion, we all stood stunned when Flora mentioned we had to clean.

"Yeah, didn't Stella ask you guys to help us clean before the party?" Bloom asked us, and we continued to look dumbfounded, and the expression on Riven's face turned to anger.

"Well,... I may have skipped over the part about cleaning." Stella admitted shamefully.

"What?" the girls in complete unison.

"Do you really think you'd go to a party if you knew cleaning was going to be involved?" The Solarian princess asked her friends, "I sure wouldn't."

"I don't know about Riven and Timmy, but Sky and I would've came anyway." Brandon admitted happily with a sincere smile.

"Thanks Brandon." Bloom gushed.

"Well, now that you know the truth, I wouldn't be surprised if you wanted to go back to Red Fountain." Flora replied sadly, picking up the cleaning supplies.

"Well, since we are still going to have the party afterward, we might as well stay for the work." Sky told her kindly. Brandon and I nodded in agreement while Riven continued to lean against the wall in discontent. The girls grabbed a mop as Musa instructed us on how to use them, Sky and Brandon, coming from royal society, had people to clean their rooms for them. I had electronic gadgets and devices to do that for me when I was growing up, so I suppose mopping was a new thing for all of us.

"It's not hard, just do it like this," She began, "soak down, rise, and dry. And then woo!" Musa looked like she was trying to make this look fun as she showed us, and I must admit, it did look like she was enjoying herself. There was a little stereo in the corner of the room which the girls were playing music from as they cleaned, and the music continued to play while she mopped.

"Uh... wasn't this supposed to be a party?" Riven questioned, I guess he was buried so deep in his own thoughts that he missed what Stella had said about not telling us that they had to clean the rest of the room before they could party.

"It will start as soon as wer finished cleaning." Bloom told them, "Here." Then she tossed Brandon a mop.

"Heads up!" Then she threw Sky a mop as well, and since they have excellent reflexes, they caught the mops successfully. Unfortunately for me, I wasn't so lucky, it almost slipped from my grasp, but I managed to get it, laughing nervously. Bloom tossed Riven a mop of his own, but he just didn't care to catch it, or take it from the floor when it landed.

"We'll work better with some music on!" Flora added cheerfully, walking over to the little stereo. turning up the music that was playing.

"And all together now, soak, rinse, dry!" Musa instructed, continuing to mop the floor and dance at the same time.

"Soak, rinse, dry!" Bloom, Brandon, Sky and Stella began turning the instructions that Musa gave us into a song, and started mopping with her, "Soak, rinse, dry!" Flora and Tecna joined into the dancing. I could hear them both laughing slightly. I joined them, standing beside Tecna, attempting to twirl my mop with one hand like a baton, I seen her in the corner of my eye, doing the exact same thing.

"Feel the rhythm, work to the beat!" Musa encouraged everyone as we twirled our mops around in our grasp. She taught us how to do this as soap flung all over the place. I saw Tecna look back at me, an impressed expression on her face. I was actually doing well twirling my mop, usually I was the uncoordinated one, but somehow I managed not to drop it a single time. Riven was still leaning against the wall, watching with disinterest and boredom, when he mouthed something, and knowing him, I could assume he just swore. We resumed twirling our mops for a few more moments mopping the floor once again. Even Kiko, Bloom's rabbit, was joining in the cleaning, he was twirling a small brush, but as he stopped, it slipped out of his paws and flew into the air, hitting Lady, who had been quiet and obedient as we cleaned, that is until she was hit on the head with the brush.

"Soak, rinse...!" We sang once again as we mopped and some of us were laughing happily. Kiko casually moved away from the pile of bubbles innocently whistling, and Lady didn't even go chasing after him, just ignoring him, "Dry!"

 **Tecna's Point of View**

After we finally finished cleaning Alfea, the girls and I took the guys up to our dorm for the party. Musa found access to the school's sound studio, where she had control over the speakers, blasting music throughout Alfea. In our room, everyone was laughing, dancing and having a good time. I got myself a cup of soda and sat down on the couch in the common room, when Timmy began to sit down beside me, still looking like his confidence was broken.

"Hi again..." He chuckled shyly, "so, are there any new projects you're working on?"

"No, not at the moment, I'm more preoccupied with classes lately. My main objective is to learn more about how to use my powers as effectively as I can, truth be told, I never got to use them too much on Zenith." I suddenly confessed, and surprised myself. Why did I just openly admit that I don't use my magic while living at home? It didn't tell him much, that was for sure, but what else was I willing to spill out unconsciously.

"What have you learned so far? I know it's still pretty early in the school year, but you got to be into it by now." He continued, he didn't even take notice of the fact that I said I didn't use my magic on Zenith, that was good, but I really have to be more careful. What came over me?

"Nothing too interesting, I'm learning about creature transformations in Wizgiz's class, understanding the meaning of magic spells in Palladium's class. I haven't gotten much of a chance to transform but they tell me it'll come in time." That wasn't too much of a lie, none of the others transformed too often either, but they had a regular opportunity in battle classes. Something I had to work my way up to. We continued to talk about my technology specific magic classes, since every fairy is eligible to take a few courses that cater to their own individual magic strengthening goals. The conversation lessened over about five or six minutes, and we fell silent before Timmy asked me something completely out of nowhere.

"Don't you want to dance, Tecna?" He asked me, did he want me to dance with him, or was he asking me if I liked to dance in general? I had to be honest, I couldn't humiliate myself in front of him, and I didn't want to embarrass him either.

"No, I don't like to," I admitted shyly, "it makes me feel kind of awkward..."

"Well, that makes two of us," Timmy confessed, "I don't like it either. I feel ridiculous."

"Timmy," we both turned around to see Riven learning against the wall, as usual, "you're ridiculous even when you're not doing anything." I just scoffed at his snide comment, and Timmy hung his head with embarrassment. Just then, Musa danced by, shuffling her feet as she moved, then she twirled in front of Riven and skipped away, maybe she was trying to get his attention after all. I looked back at Timmy who was just shut down, and stared at his hands. I took another drink from my soda and watched the rest of the girls dance and socialize. I noticed that Riven had snuck out to the balcony for some solitude after talking briefly to Brandon. After another fifteen minutes into the party, everyone began conversing in a group.

"It's too bad this party can't go on forever." Bloom had been telling us.

"Maybe not forever, but I was hoping it would go on at least until morning." Sky agreed.

"I guess, as long as we keep the place tidy." Flora replied happily.

"Uh, is that your stomach grumbling?" Stella asked Sky, "You want to eat something?"

"No, but I'm kinda thirsty." Sky admitted as Stella began pouring the Eraklyon Prince some orange juice.

"Your Highness, are you nervous?" She asked him. When Stella asked him this, I could feel the ground shaking below our feet.

"I'm perfectly calm," Sky reassured her, "it's the school that's shaking!"

"An earthquake?" Bloom asked with fear in her voice.

"It's coming from inside!" Flora acknowledged, peaking her head out the door to look down the hallway.

"No, it's from outside," Stella ran out to the balcony as Musa, Riven and Timmy followed. I soon stood up to see what was going on, " Maybe one of our classmates left the TV on too loud, see it stopped." Just then, we all witnessed something fly out of a window opposite to our dorms.

"Or maybe not." Bloom and Flora began shaking nervously, but Riven remained calm, whistling to get the boys' hover-bikes to come up to the balcony. The four boys jumped on their hover-bikes, riding off to the source of the rumbling. The girls and I ran downstairs and met them at their location. I walked toward the wall that the boys were looking at, and observed the cracks and holes that were made in it.

"What kind of creature could do this kind of damage?" Timmy inquired with complete amazement.

"A big, heavy creature." I answered him, feeling the cracks in the wall, there was monster hair hanging from some of them, if only I knew what type of creature the hair belonged to.

"Oh golly, I never would have guessed." Riven replied sarcastically, I turned toward him with irritation deep in my gaze.

"It's two and a half meters tall and weighs close to a ton, its fur is bristly, it has horns and multiple clawed limbs, it also has a musky odour. Now is that better?" I informed the cocky Specialist, who was getting under my skin with every word that came out of his mouth.

"Way to go, Tec!" Stella laughed before the ground shook once more.

"Okay, that was it." Brandon told the guys as we felt the rumbling once again, this time it was much more distinguishable than when we were in the dorms.

"What are we waiting for?" Sky asked, "Let's go!"

"Wait for us!" Bloom called as we headed out, "We're coming too!"

"Come on!" Sky encouraged us to follow them, however, Riven having his usual self-centred attitude, immediately stopped us.

"Stay where you are, little fairies," He ordered sharply, " this isn't a job for you." Musa just stared him squarely in the eye and huffed, but he turned away and followed the rest of the guys.

"Says who!" She shouted, and so we ran back into the school, through the main entrance and down a hallway to see if we could find the creature ourselves. As we continued to wonder the hallways and up the stairs in the school, we couldn't see anything suspicious, that is until we reached the top of another staircase.

"Nothing, maybe it went away." Bloom guessed as we approached another hallway.

"Maybe it was just a wild animal," Flora added, "you know."

"Or one of Prof. Wizgiz's crazy creations." Musa thought.

"I'd say it's a dirty laundry hamper creature." Stella joked, really Stella? A dirty laundry creature? Can't she take this a little more seriously? Whatever this thing was could be vandalizing our school and we were the only ones who could put a stop to it. Just then we finally reached the top of the stairs.

"Let's try this way." Musa suggested, it was so dark right about now that she resorted to feeling the wall to lead her way, when suddenly she bumped into something.

"Hang on a sec." She thought, backing up nervously, "There never use to be a wall in this corridor." A huge, blue monster was standing in the hallway, taking us by surprise. It turned towards us and roared, spitting all over the girls closest to it, especially Stella.

"Ew, this is totally disgusting!" She shouted, "You are so going to get it!" The Solarian princess stared the beast right in the face, imitating its growl.

"Stella, we have no powers." Flora eminded her nervously.

"Ha ha, nice monster." She chuckled, moving away and back towards us. The monster was not too happy with what Stella did, and began chasing us down the corridor as we screamed. The girls and I ran up yet another flight of stairs, we didn't even stop to look back. I flung open a set of doors as we continued running as fast as we possibly could. However the monster was not too far behind, and he roared once again, stomping his big foot down causing the ground to shake, and we lost our footing and fell to the floor. I fell to my knees, leaning against the wall, hoping that the monster wouldn't trap me. I heard Bloom shriek from not too far away, and was afraid to look around, but I dared. As I looked, the creature was way too close to me for comfort, and with some kind of instinct, I knocked him in the face with my feet as I jumped right on him. Then I landed on the floor, making my escape.

"Look at him, he's struggling and sweaty," Stella taunted the monster as I turned back, "he really stinks, this should help a little." She began spraying the creature with some of her perfume.

"Great Stella!" I shouted, getting out of the way before the creature could get away, "You made him even more angry!" And so we continued to run down hallway after hallway, yelling and screaming. I suddenly saw Musa jump up the wall, building more height, when the creature came, she was about to jump right on his head, but instead, she was right in front of him, and he punched her. She flew across the corridor right in the darkest side, where we couldn't see her at all. Moments later, we were surprised when Riven appeared with Musa in his arms, that meant that the boys were not too far behind him.

"That's it you beast!" He growled fiercely, "You asked for it!" He set Musa down on her feet, and stepped forward as Timmy, Brandon and Sky followed him with their weapons in hand.

"Girls, you can sit back and relax," he told us stubbornly, "we'll put him through the wringer! Now this is my kind of party." Then, Riven swung at the monster with his sword, and when it went to punch him, he moved out of the way.

"Let's take him on together!" Brandon suggested hastily, trying to assist him.

"Just worry about your prince, page boy!" Riven told him rudely as he thrust forward toward the monster.

"Come on guys!" Sky shouted, "Attack!"

"Specialists attack!" Brandon ordered.

"This is my attack!" Riven insisted furiously, but his ego got the best of him, he didn't see the monster's fist, and he punched Riven, causing him to fly through the air and crash through a window. Good luck for us trying to explain that damage to Ms Griselda, never mind the cracks and holes in the wall outside. Suddenly, the creature started beating the rest of the boys, and we couldn't do anything about it.

"We've got to do something!" Bloom insisted with complete fear in her voice.

"The monster is beating them to a pulp!" Flora exclaimed.

"We don't have anything to fight with!" I reminded the girls, I barely noticed that Stella had disappeared, only until she came back with the buckets and mops we used.

"Look what I found." She announced, carrying the cleaning supplies up the hallway.

"Hey, this gives me an idea!" Bloom shouted. Just then, we saw the guys getting thrown against the wall, one by one, and we had to get the creature's attention. We began banging on the buckets as he turned to face us.

"Hey monster!" Bloom shouted.

"We're here!" Stella added as we continued to make noise to distract the creature. He suddenly roared again, and began chasing us once more. Buckets and pots flew in every direction while we ran away from the boys.

"Are you all ready?" Bloom asked all of us as Musa was running beside her.

"You betcha!" Musa answered, and they both grabbed soap containers from the belts on their waists, and squirted in all over the floor. Then we watched as the monster slipped on its stomach and crashed down multiple flights of staircases. We ran down the stairs to see the damage we had done to the monster.

"Ooh, scary ugly!" Flora replied in a quivering voice.

"I almost had him." Riven mumbled irritably, who had managed to find his way back to us.

"What I'd like to know is where could a thing like that come from?" Bloom wondered, suddenly we saw something pop its way out from under the huge monster. It was the duck that Flora had placed in the egg that Icy thought had Stella's Solaria ring in it during the welcome gala. It wobbled on it's feet before it just stumbled backward and sat down.

"That's Pepe, Icy's duck!" Bloom announced, I had no idea they gave it a name, I didn't even think they'd bother caring about it at all.

"He couldn't possibly have gotten here by himself." I told the rest of the group.

"Mommy!" Pepe yawned, curling up in the fur of the monster and falling asleep, I had to admit, it was adorable to see right in front of my eyes.

"I'd say this is a special gift from the Trix R. Us company." Stella joked, not that the situation wasn't as serious as it once was, and we now knew the cause of the vandalism, I didn't mind it.

"Let's go to Faragonda's office," Bloom suggested, "I know that with her crystal ball, she can keep watch over pretty much the whole school." Now that was a bad idea, going into the headmistress's office while she wasn't present was a rule I didn't need to break, sometimes I didn't know why I even followed everyone around like this, but my curiosity got the best of me.

"But that wouldn't be right," Flora protested," we can't go into Faragonda's office if she isn't in there."

"That's true," I agreed, "it's strictly against the rules."

"Yes, but for our own good and that of Alfea, we must solve this mystery." Bloom insisted.

"Very well," I sighed, "but if we get caught, don't say I didn't warn you." And Flora nodded in agreement. So, we wondered back toward the main entrance from outside, and headed up toward the stairs to Ms Faragonda's office. Once we reached the office, Bloom led the way.

"Here we are, this is the moment of truth." She announced quietly as we all walked into the headmistress's office and up to her desk. It felt wrong being here at night, and I just hoped we would not get caught for this, but who was I kidding? When I was with the girls, rules were broken, and we got in a lot of trouble.

"There's someone in here." Riven warned us after scoping the room.

"Ooh, I knew it," Flora asked in a very shaky voice.

"What should we do?" Musa questioned quickly.

"Let's hide." Bloom advised, so we all found some hiding places, when suddenly we saw the Trix enter the room guided by a blinding light.

"This is odd," we heard Icy reply, "the vacuum clearly indicates that the power of the Dragon is hidden in this room, but I don't see anything." I heard Icy talking to her sisters. From my hiding place I noticed Riven sneak from a closet and head towards the lights."

"I guess we'll just have to trash the place and search every nook and cranny until we find what we want." The witch of ice continued.

"We won't let you!" Bloom shouted as Icy turned to her voice and groaned with anger. Bloom jumped from he hiding place, and in minutes, Riven had turned on the lights, the Trix just groaned, looking around to see Riven laughing victoriously.

"What are you doing here?" Icy inquired in complete surprise.

"No," Bloom shot back, "what are you three doing here?"

"That's what I was going to ask you all." And just as expected, there was Ms Faragonda, standing in the threshold of her office door. Now we were going to be in a whole instalment of trouble, "Up until a moment ago I thought this was my office."

"You might not believe us, but we can explain." Bloom began to tell her.

"All right, let's here what you girls have to say." Ms Faragonda answered. Bloom explained everything that happened during the night, and then all of us walked to the quad.

"Well, thanks for everything, Brandon." I heard Bloom tell the blonde squire.

"It was an evening I won't soon forget." He answered her.

"Come here." Sky pulled Stella in for a kiss on the cheek. Timmy and I watched the other two girls gush over their guys, and suddenly he said something.

"A memorable party." He replied simply, I just thought for a moment what he meant by that.

"Yeah, and uh, next time you have a _party_ , don't bother to invite me, all right." Riven told us rudely, and Flora and Musa gasped at his downright arrogance. The boys drove off while we watched and Stella waved to Sky. The creature was being transferred in a bubble, probably to Magix in a high security prison.

"Oh, and Griselda, remind me to send Director Saladin a letter of thanks for the help his students gave us." Ms Faragonda began as she turned to the head of discipline, who was with her the who time and was not too impressed by what happened, "And as for you three witches in training.., I will immediately take the matter up with Director Griffin, your behaviour here this evening is totally unacceptable. Tomorrow morning she will receive from me a formal complaint, I have never seen such total lack of respect. I trust you'll be disciplined accordingly, good bye girls." As she finished her long lecture, she snapped her finger and the witches were sent back to Cloud Tower.

"And now," Ms Griselda began as we all gasped, "it's your turn." I was waiting for this exact moment, we were going to be sent back to our realms. If that was the case, Ms Faragonda would insist on doing something else with me, considering I was in too much danger to return to Zenith.

"There are a few things you should know." Bloom began, "There is a broken window upstairs and a few cracked walls outside here, they were from the monster. Everything else is cleaned."

"I'll be the judge of that, Miss Bloom." Ms Griselda told her roughly.

"Now let's go and discuss this in my office." Ms Faragonda replied, and we began walking upstairs.

* * *

We followed Ms Faragonda to her office, and stood in front of her desk. I wanted to wait and find out what was going to happen next, but at the same time I didn't want to know how things would turn out.

"Now, I've looked at the situation as a whole, and so I will not reprimand you." Ms Faragonda began as we let out a few sighs of relief, "This evening's events have shown that you can handle difficult situations intelligently, creatively and without magic, and so, I'll give you back your powers. Your punishment has lasted long enough." What, was I hearing this right, we weren't going to be expelled from Alfea? That familiar surge of magic shooting through me restored my sense of safety and security now that I knew what Ms Faragonda's decision was.

* * *

Musa and I sat across from each other in our bedroom that night, I knew that deep down inside, Ms. Faragonda would have to do something else for me, after all her efforts to become my legal guardian, she had too much compassion to throw it all away. I noticed Musa sitting quietly under her comforter, pondering something.

"I've made up my mind," She admitted, looking up at me, "Riven is a complete and total ass, he's not worth my time and he just seems to only think of himself. I've seen that too many times every time we meet."

"I'm not too sure how to respond to that, Musa." I confessed in the dim light of the room, "but I'll support you no matter what decisions you make." She thanked me softly before laying down in her bed, and I soon followed her lead. In a few days it was The Day of the Rose, a day celebrating mothers, to me it was just a day like any other, but I knew for a fact that Musa struggled with it every year.


	8. A Friendship Created

**I had a really tough time with this chapter because Tecna only has one line of dialogue on screen, the rest is just her trying to pass the day away productively. Although I will say you finally get to know Elyssa for the first time, Tecna learns quite a bit about her in the first meeting. I do intend to keep her low key so that she doesn't end up hogging the spotlight from Tecna, being my own original character I am kinda inserting myself into the story here, and the last thing I want is for Elyssa to become a Mary Sue character. Let me know what you think of her and what you might change. The fact that she's a musician won't come up much, it's just a plot to get her to meet Tecna.**

 **Winx Club Episode Dialogue (c) Iginio Straffi And Rainbow S.r.l**

* * *

 **Chapter Eight: A Friendship Created**

A week after the Winx and I decided to break into Cloudtower to get Stella's Solaria ring back, and the Trix' intrusion into Alfea, everything was back to normal. Classes went smoothly, no news had been heard about the wicked trio, and we were no longer known as the troublemakers of the school for fairies. It was starting to be exactly the way I wanted it to. I was beginning to build my reputation as one of the fairies with the best grades in my classes. I continued my one-on-one training with Ms Faragonda, and she as each class went by, she told me I was making progress. I was actually quite disappointed with my progress during the one-on-one training classes, however me, nor Ms Faragonda, could figure on a logical solution as to why My powers were so weak, and why, no matter what I did, I couldn't get as strong as the others.

It was morning, I opened my eyes and got my bearings only to realize that today was known as the Day of the Rose, a day to celebrate your mother. Every year it just felt like another day to me because I had no idea who my mother was. I asked Dr Tonson once when I was younger where she was, he had no comment when I asked him this, his only words were, "You'll understand when you're older, my little microchip." And that was unsettling, and no help in finding out the answer to my question. This lead me to many unknown possibilities, Dr. Tonson could very well be my biological father, but what about my mother? Was she one of his colleagues who he had a legitimate relationship with, or did he use her just to have a baby for his experiment? Did he just rape her to get what he wanted, or did they make some kind of business transaction in exchange for the intercourse? What if my mother wasn't one of Tonson's colleagues, what if she was just an innocent unsuspecting woman off the street who was threatened and abused into it? Or worse yet, what if I have no mother at all, what if I'm some kind of genetically engineered fairy super being that was developed from test tubes? Considering how advanced the technology in Zenith is compared to the rest of the Magical Dimension, that was actually possibility. That last thought horrified me to no end, and every year those same questions crept up, without any answers. So that is why the Day of the Rose has always been a day full of mystery and emptiness for me. Throwing off the covers of my bed, I immediately took my well thought out plan into action, throughout the past couple days, I had been thinking of a way to give the rest of the girls the impression that I was going home for this holiday to visit my mother. In actuality, I was planning to bring my bag all the way to Magix and stay around there the entire day, it would give me a perfect opportunity to hand out resumes in the Magix mall. Mrs. Faragonda was encouraging me to seek part time employment to pay my way through this first school year, and now I had a full day to do just that. As I began packing my belongings, I happened to notice Musa sitting on her bed opposite mine, staring at a photo of her mother, I remember her telling me that she lost her mother because of a fatal illness developed during her singing career, so I can imagine today must be a very sad day for Musa? It only took me a few minutes later to realize that she was crying. I turned from organizing my clothes for my fake trip back home to face my heartbroken roommate.

"The Day of the Rose has to be a pretty bitter day for you Musa." I began hesitantly, "considering what you told me and all."

"Yeah, it is, you're so lucky, you get to go home and spend time with your mom." She took a deep sigh, sniffling. If only that was true, Musa, I never got to have the pleasure of knowing my mother like she did. At least she had a chance to grow up with her mother before she died. I knew that telling her wouldn't create any suspicion about the ugly truth of my childhood, so I decided to confess to her all that I could so that I wasn't lying to her. I walked over to her side of the room and she moved so I could sit beside her on her piano shaped bed.

"To tell you the truth, Musa, I can't remember my mom either," I hesitated, " I don't remember where I came from or even if I was born living where I grew up. My life is very complicated. I will say that you're the lucky one, at least you got to grow up with your mother."

"Wow, I'm.., so sorry, I take back what I said before, I didn't mean it that way." Musa looked shocked, and a little ashamed by what she assumed.

"I don't like talking about it, I don't want anybody to feel sorry that I don't have a mother, or that I don't remember her." I admitted, "I want to be a strong, independent young woman with no hand for me to hold in this world."

"You know what," Musa's face lit up when she heard that from me, "even though my mom will always live in my heart, she would not want me to feel empty because I lost her. I want to become the strong, independent woman you strive to be, but with her spirit as my guide, and the music as my source of freedom." I didn't really have my own guide, I suppose my logical thinking was all I ever needed to remain strong and independent, and my technical knowledge was all I needed to get me through. This was something we shared, the self sufficiency to fend for ourselves in this vast, endless Magical Dimension which held infinite challenges and possibilities.

"So I guess you'll be staying here for the Day of the Rose?" Musa asked me.

"Actually, no, despite not having a mother, I think it's best if I go home anyway." I told her, "No one is going to be around Alfea anyway. What about you?"

"If you're not expected at home, I'll be hanging around Alfea, you can stay here too if you really want to." She offered, the idea was tempting, but I had an opportunity awaiting me in downtown Magix and now was as good a time as ever to go job searching.

"I'd love to, but I'm actually expected back in Zenith, I've already told them I'd be home for the Day of the Rose." I lied, anything to cover up the fact that I wasn't actually going home for the day. Now that our little chat was over, I resumed packing my clothes for the day I'd be away from Alfea.

"Are you sure you're going to be okay all by yourself, Musa?" I asked her.

"Yeah, I'll be fine." She reassured me with a s

* * *

light smile, "I just need a few more minutes to myself and then I'll say goodbye to the rest of the girls." I responded with a quick wave, walking out of the room with my luggage in hand, I had a few extra things in the common room that I needed to get in my suitcase, and when I was rummaging around to find then, I heard Bloom and Flora come in behind me.

"What's the Day of the Rose?" Bloom had inquired to Flora as they were walking out from their shared bedroom.

"It's a special day where everybody celebrates their own mother," I explained, "don't you have a holiday like that on Earth?"

"Oh yes," She answered, "but we call it Mothers' Day." That makes sense to name it by its significant meaning, although it did also come from the time of the year when the roses began to bloom, but I guess the importance of celebrating mothers was more of a detail to Earth than flowers

"Are you going home Bloom?" Flora asked her, considering how close she was with her family on Earth, we would think she'd take the first opportunity to go home for a visit.

"No, I don't think so." Bloom admitted sadly, I supposed since it was the first she'd ever heard of the Day of the Rose, it was kind of last minute for her to plan anything and give her parents any advanced notice.

"Well, then, you'll keep us company." Stella piped up, poking her head out from her huge bedroom suite as Musa joined us in the common room. Bloom already knew why Musa wasn't going back home, but there was something the Solarian princess wasn't telling us about her own home life. I wasn't going to inquire, and she would tell us when she was ready. As we said our goodbyes and went our separate ways, Bloom, Stella and Musa headed downstairs to the empty cafeteria while Flora and I headed out to the quad. I noticed that Flora was waiting for the same hover-bus that went directly to the inter-realm station, and knowing she'd expect me to get off at the same stop as she was, I had to think of a way to lose her, and fast. At first I decided to sit at the back of the bus, so that she wouldn't see that I didn't get off with her, but she called to me to sit down beside her in an empty seat.

"Is everything all right, Tecna," she asked me, "you don't want to sit in the front."

"No, I just hate traveling." I told her quietly, it wasn't a lie, I despised riding for a long time on an inter-realm bus, or even just to go into Magix, but of coarse that wasn't the reason I was trying to stay hidden. I sat next to my nature loving friend silently the entire way to Magix, luckily the bus stopped on the main street downtown close to the mall before heading to the inter-realm portal and bus station. The inter-realm portals were used when realms were too far for inter-realm busses to travel. Since Earth was in the non-magical dimension, Bloom would have to use an inter-dimensional portal to get home. I quickly moved to the back door of the bus, hoping Flora wouldn't see me, but unfortunately she did, and it was harder for me to lose her then I originally thought.

"I thought you were going back to Zenith for the Day of the Rose?" She questioned.

"I am, I'm meeting my parents at the Magix mall after they pick up a few things." I lied once more, I hated lying to my friends, but I hated being the center of attention and pity more than that. As I told Musa, I was determined to remain as independent women who could fend for herself, and didn't need anyone to hold me by the hand. With that explanation, Flora waved me goodbye and I took my bag off the bus, walking down the street towards the mall. As I entered, the building was enormous, I had never seen such a place in my life, stores lined the outside of a corridor, and kiosks were scattered everywhere. Neon letters identified all the stores and signs declared sales and special offers. As expected, the place was bustling with activity, I didn't think any place could be busier than Alfea. I had no idea where to start first while handing out resumes, Ms Faragonda suggested that I don't limit myself to just looking for electronics stores. Even if they are my specialty, she thought broadening my horizons for work experience would give me more opportunities in the future, more chances to learn new things. However I did not see myself working at a clothing retail store, or in the food court. There were plenty of cellphone services around for me to apply for, as well as electronics stores, I thought I'd hand out a couple resumes at those stores before looking anywhere else. After handing out a few in the stores, I put my luggage down beside me, sitting on the nearest bench and taking out my palmtop. Some of the places in Magix required applicants to submit their resume online, the more resumes I submitted, both in person, and online, the better chance I got of getting a few interviews. As I sat there, submitting my resumes, something at a kiosk caught my attention, I turned in the direction of the booth, and picked up my things before going to investigate. As I got closer, I read the electronic billboard indicating what they were advertising, and I was amazed as excited to see this.

"Techno Magic Society, Magix chapter." I started reading the information on the screen in front of me, "please ask the members if you have any questions about the society and what they do. Our mission, to provide the latest and greatest technology from around the Magic Dimension to realms of misfortune. To make any and all invention ideas more than a dream, for them to become a reality."

"Can I help you, miss?" A voice snapped me back to the present moment as I turned to see a man around my age with short, dark purple hair and blue eyes, he was wearing a very official looking uniform in a light blue with a silver name tag.

"I was only interested in your group, I'm actually from Zenith myself.., and I think this would be a good opportunity to contribute to the community of Magix." I began shyly, only for the man to look at me for a second, his expression didn't look skeptical, but he did hesitate to respond.

"All right," he answered after a moment of awkward silence, aside from the distant hustle and bustle of passers by, "do you have any invention ideas, past technical skills or knowledge?"

"Of course, here are a few things I've worked on for years now." I informed him, taking out my palmtop once more and opening up the numerous blueprints to the inventions I created, "I even install my own software on this palmtop, and do the repairs myself if I need to. It's one of my favourite pastimes besides learning new things and searching the Realm Wide Web." I passed my palmtop over to him as he browsed through them. The expression on his face looked quite impressed by my abilities.

"And you said that you're from Zenith, technical knowledge is the norm in that realm." He continued, "It would be beneficial to have a Zenithian representative in the Society."

"What do you mean, no one from Zenith has been initiated, I would think they'd be the first ones to inquire?" I was stunned, surely someone from Zenith would be a part of the Magix chapter of the Techno Magic Society, if they weren't already a part of Zenith's chapter.

"We've had many people from all over the Magical Dimension attempt to get into the elite ranks of our society, some have succeeded and others just didn't make the cut. A lot of them were from highly advanced technological realms, but throughout our years only few Zenithians have made it to our society. Not that it's not hard to be initiated, if you have the knowledge and technological skills, which you obviously do, it's just that not many other people from Zenith have come to Magix for a long enough period of time for initiation to be worth it. I suppose." He explained dully.

"So you're saying that I have what it takes to be initiated in the Techno Magic Society?" I asked, my face lighting up with curiosity and anxiety. Never had I been told I had the potential to be a part of anything this exclusive.

"I'll tell you what, I'll speak with the rest of the Society, and the president, and get back to you if they feel you can take the initiation challenge." He told me, and we exchanged contact information and I was asked to send a copy of my blueprints for him to show to the rest of the Society as visual proof of my abilities. As I went on my way once more, I continued to sit, submitting more resumes to other stores around Magix that I wasn't able to get to in person. I never meant to eavesdrop, but I just happened to overhear a conversation between a young woman who looked my age, and an older man in a slick leather suit. The woman's hair was a shade of medium purple and fell to her shoulders, she was wearing a yellow jumpsuit that was overloaded with sparkles and over her eyes were covered with dark sunglasses.

"Lyssa, baby, you got to think of some different material." The man was telling her as I overheard, "The whole rebellious daddy's girl routine is done, your crowd is losing interest. And if you ever want to make it to the big time, you know you got to think of something fresh."

"You know that I'm not in it for the fame, I'm pretty well known in Magix already, that's all I really need." The woman insisted, "I'm still working hard as a student at Alfea and I think that's most important. This is just a hobby and a way to put money in my pocket."

"You know what to do then, babe, you're losing precious money if you continue to bore your fans to death with the same old stuff. To be honest it's slow and depressing, for a fairy who's powers come from electricity, you're sure not very exciting."

"Okay, okay, I get it." She immediately stopped him before he could make any more comments about her. From the little information I've gathered, she appeared to be a music artist, but she also mentioned that she was a student at Alfea, how come I never seen her in the halls or out on the quad? Was she the type of person who was secretive about her identity because of the problems associated with fame? As the two parted ways, I managed to finish up the last submission of my resumes while sitting on the nearby bench. After browsing a few more electronics stores and some others that might benefit from my technical knowledge and organizational skills, I headed toward the food court for lunch. There were so many options to chose from, but luckily after I was told that some foods were actually more bad for me than others in excessive amounts, I did a bit of research on the benefits and disadvantages of certain foods. Having this knowledge now, I decided on a spinach sandwich with a few different types of meat. It was so much better than the same canned soup I've been having for lunch ever since I can remember, and as I researched, the amount of salt and sugar in some of the soups was incredibly unhealthy. Taking a few bites from the sandwich, I heard a distinct voice from down the bar.

"One double fudge milkshake, shaken, not stirred of course." It was the same young woman that was talking to the man just a couple hours ago, she just chucked at her obvious statement.

"Right away, Miss Elyssa." The man behind the milkshake counter answered, and her response was a casual wave.

"Ah, cut the formal crap, James, you know it's all good." She seemed to have a welcoming demeanour and a humble approach, the man just laughed along with her while preparing her milkshake. He didn't talk that much to her, as he knew that she was wracking her brain for new inspiration, she had a pad of papers and a pen in front of her and, with the pen in hand, began tapping it on the counter after about two point five minutes of deep thought.

"I don't know what to sing about, I love my father, but he doesn't want to accept that I am a fairy," I heard her say to herself from down the milkshake bar, "He'll never understand that it'll be a part of me, I have powers and that's an obvious fact. I'm still trying to figure out how the Oblivion I'm a fairy, the only explanation for that would be with my mother, but I don't know what happened to her." Wow, she really needs to stop talking to herself, that, and I need to mind my own business. Though I couldn't help but notice that she too had no idea what happened to her own mother, and I never thought I would have that in common with anyone. A few minutes later, the guy behind the counter slipped her the milkshake she ordered, and she thanked him. After a few more minutes she scribbled something onto her pad of paper, then began tapping her pen on the side of her glass. Then, more moments passed before she crumbled up the paper she had written on.

"Damn it." I heard her finally express her frustrations, and in the corner of her eye, she turned in my direction, a look of awe plastered all over her face. What was she looking at, did I have spinach in my teeth? She placed her pen and paper aside and walked up to me curiously.

"I.., really hate to be rude, and you can tell me if I am, but.., are you from Zenith?" She inquired hesitantly. It was as if nobody in Magix had seen a fairy from Zenith ever before, I was some kind of rare sight for them.

"Yes," I answered her quizzically, "why?"

"I've actually did a bit of reading on Zenith for once of my Magical history classes before coming to Alfea, and I found the realm extraordinarily fascinating." She continued, "I love your pink hair for one thing, and the fact that fairies have powers derived from technology is so cool! Do you mind showing me your powers?"

"I'm really not suppose to use them without supervision, this is a public place and it could cause a scene." I admitted shyly.

"No sweat, I just wanted to see a tiny demonstration, but I understand." Elyssa replied, so I opened up my palm and formed a small digital sphere in my hand, and her eyes widened in amazement.

"So.., you're a student at Alfea too, why haven't I seen you around?" I asked her once the sphere disappeared from my hand.

"I'm usually busy writing my songs, out on the town making appearances, but most of the time I spent studying. I keep a pretty good balance of both parts of my life." She told me, "I'm sorry I didn't introduce myself earlier, my name's Elyssa."

"I'm Tecna," I shook her hand before she went to grab her milkshake from her spot down the table, "You look like you could be a freshman, but I haven't seen you in Wizgiz or Palladium's classes."

"I have classes with them too, just at a different time. I take different classes when you're with them." Elyssa explained, that sounded like a logical explanation, "Say, you bunk with Stella, Princess of Solaria, I heard you got into trouble a couple times with Griselda."

"Yeah, we did, I don't know what is the problem with those three witches from Cloudtower, but they broke into Alfea and unleashed a huge monster to vandalize the place, right after our punishment for trying to get Stella's ring back from them. In my opinion, they were the ones who started the whole thing, they stole her ring!" I told her with slight frustration, it was because of those three that I didn't get a normal first month as a student at Alfea, their antics wouldn't be jeopardizing their reputation I wanted to create for myself.

"Those Cloudtower witches always want to start something from nothing." Elyssa scoffed, "Not worth any of the drama, or the lecture from Griselda." I couldn't help but chuckle, knowing she was definitely right about that. Hopefully I never got to see those witches for a very long time. She took another drink from her milkshake while I continued eating my sandwich. She suddenly began asking me more about Zenith, and I wasn't the best person in the Magical Dimension to ask, but I answered her questions as best I could. As I talked, she began writing down important details on her pad of paper.

"Do you really find all that interesting?" I questioned.

"Of course, I'm trying to think of fresh ideas for my songs, all I ever sing about is how my father will never accept hat I'm a fairy, it's as clear as the nose on his face. All her says is that my mom was a drug addict and hallucinated having magic powers while she was pregnant with me. I don't think any hallucinations can explain how I can grow wings and transform, and shoot electricity from my hands. I want to be able to share that part of my life with him but all I ended up doing is being forced into social activities that I never even liked and going to therapy just to keep me focused on 'reality.' Great Dragon of Domino, hiding it from him has been absolute murder."

"It's not worth trying," I blurted out unconsciously, speaking from experience, some things were just better left unsaid, "I might not be able to sympathize much, all I'm saying is that you should embrace the fact that you're a fairy rather than trying to hide it, use all the things you've learned at Alfea as inspiration for your songs. I have been here in Magix for a little over a month, and I have learned more than I ever thought I could in a lifetime." Of course my circumstances were completely different from any other normal fairy in the Magical Dimension, but she didn't need to know that, all she needed to remember was that she shouldn't be embarrassed by what she is. I might sound like a hypocrite for saying this to her when I hold a huge secret of my own and intend to keep it, this wasn't about me right now, this was about her.

"Yeah, I have learned so much since coming to Magix," Elyssa spoke up after a moment of thought, "You're right, Tecna, it shouldn't matter to anybody else what I am. I'm a fairy, damn it, and unfortunately my dad will have to live with that!"

"Maybe it's best not to even bring it up with him, and just embrace being a fairy when you're in Magix." I suggested simply, "You don't want to create any unnecessary resentment that you don't already have. By the way, where did you grow up?" I knew she grew up on Earth, like Bloom, but I didn't want her knowing that I listened in on her talking to herself. It was just rude of me in the first place.

"I'm from Earth, I think that's kind of obvious since it's the only planet in the Non-Magical Dimension that can inhabit human life. And given the fact that my father is insistent that magic doesn't exist, I would have to come from a place that has never seen legitimate magic. That is unless you think that cheap stuff people perform at little kids' birthday parties is magic, I swear when I saw what I was able to do, it made that crap look embarrassing." One thing that I noticed about Elyssa, she talked a lot, it wasn't necessarily a bad thing, it means I didn't have to keep up the conversation too much. She explained to me that what the people on Earth considered to be magic was just a visual illusion perfected by a lot of practice, once I understand what she meant, I had to agree that it was truly laughable. After talking a bit more and getting to know each other, Elyssa thought she knew what her new inspiration for her music was.

"I want to thank you, Tecna." She began, right out of the blue, "You helped me realize that I should be proud of what I am, and to express that without regret."

"I don't think you needed me to tell you that," I stated simply, "You just needed someone else to reassure you that it's the right thing to do."

"I'd like to have your number, if that's okay with you? Because you helped inspire me, I want to invite you as a special guest at my next gig." She offered, "it's at a very high end night club, but don't be afraid, since everyone knows who I am and that I'm underage, they don't dare mess with me or anyone I bring with me." This sounded a little unnerving, weren't night clubs, to my knowledge, full of people who weren't exactly, decent? If she was trying to reassure me that I wasn't going to be taken advantage of or that my beverages weren't going to be tempered with, I wasn't sure what to think.

"What do you mean?" I questioned her nervously, the possibilities running through my head were endless, I was going to hear from Ms Faragonda if anything happened to me, and I didn't want to get Elyssa in trouble if she ever felt responsible for me.

"My manager makes sure that my drinks don't get spiked, they're watched very carefully by everyone at every venue I go to, and I do have high security, and a few methods of self defence. Just ask anybody, I've rearranged a few faces when absolutely necessary." She clarified further, she seemed like she could defend herself when needed, but did that mean her temper was easily thinned?

"That doesn't reassure me very much." I admitted quietly, I didn't become scared of her enough to back off, but something told me that you did not want to get on Elyssa's bad side.

"Don't worry, Tecna, I know exactly what you're thinking, that I might get you into trouble with this night club thing, and that I might be the type of person to start fights just by impulse. But believe me, you'd have to piss me off really good to do that, and I'm very easy going. If anything I use that sort of thing to stick up for my friends and what is right. That's why I chose to be a fairy and not a witch." Even though I was locked up for most of my life, I still knew that magical beings had the choice to learn how to use their powers for good or evil. I only thought there was too much evil in my life already that I wanted to use my own power for the greater good.

"Now that reassures me." I lifted my head after hearing her say this, her words truly made me believe she was a genuinely good person that only used self defence and violence as a means of last resort and never for an irrational cause.

"I understand that dance clubs and partying are definitely not your scene, you usually prefer solitude and structure, right?" She continued, and I nodded in response, "So if the idea of going to the night club makes you feel totally uncomfortable, I get it. No pressure."

"Thanks, but I think I might want to give it a shot." I confessed, "Ms. Faragonda did tell me that part of life is being social."

"And if you ever change your mind I will take you straight back to Alfea, no questions asked." She reassured me, and something told me I could trust her word, she wasn't going to trick me into something that was going to put me in danger. We exchanged numbers and email addresses, and for the rest of the day, I browsed the rest of the mall and surrounding areas, familiarizing myself with all the important services I could find useful when I went to Magix again. The time passed very quickly, and before I knew it, the sky was beginning to get dark. When I noticed the time, I immediately searched for the nearest bus stop back to Alfea, the last thing I needed was to be stranded in the big city after dark, especially considering my circumstances.

* * *

As I entered the suite that night, I overheard Bloom and Stella talking in the Solarian Princess's bedroom. From the sound of things, Bloom was very upset.

"I swear to you I didn't do anything!" The redhead shouted.

"We know you didn't, Bloom, we believe you when you said the Trix were involved and that they fooled you by having a Timmy look-alike give you that faulty helmet for Riven." Stella was reassuring her in as calm of a voice as she possibly could, "If Riven chooses to be a selfish jackass, that's his deal. He isn't going to look at both sides of the story and you can't feel guilty for that. All you know is that you saw what you saw, and that's all we need. I'm sure it'll all blow over soon. And besides I think it's best if Riven isn't a part of their squad, they probably don't even want him to be anyway."

"Thanks Stella, you're a really great friend." Bloom replied with a deep sigh as the two girls began walking out into the common area where I was sitting with my bag. When she saw me, Bloom stopped abruptly and became very quiet and hesitant.

"Did you hear any of that?" She inquired.

"I did, but whatever happened is none of my business." I reassured her, looking up from my palmtop.

"Tecna, can I talk to you privately in your room?" Bloom asked me suddenly, and I agreed. We walked into the bedroom I shared with Musa, I guess she was having a shower at the moment which allowed us to have our conversation without any disruptions.

"What's going on, Bloom?" I asked her, while sitting at my computer, and she sat on my bed. She began fiddling with her fingers, trying to find the words to explain her problem.

"Ever since we went to Cloudtower, I've been having these dreams with that same voice that helped us escape." She began slowly, "Just this morning I had a dream and saw the woman the voice belonged to, she told me she was waiting for me and that there was something I had to remember."

"So, what do you need my help with?" I asked her.

"I'm sure that with all your advanced technology, could you please help me figure out who this mystery person is?" Bloom continued, hesitance in her voice.

"I can help you as best I can, let's start with what you saw, do you remember what she looked like?" I took my ladybug scanner from my computer desk drawer, and pressed a couple buttons before the bug started flying around her head.

"What are you doing?" She asked me curiously.

"If I could get a clearer image of your thoughts as you describe her to me, I can put the pieces together much easier." I explained simply, "Would you rather me hook you up to an electro-mind reader while you're sleeping instead?"

"I think I'll stick with this, thanks." Bloom replied with a slight chuckle, "My memory is quite fuzzy right now, but I do remember a long, flowing gown and a blinding light coming from her. That's really all I can remember.

"It's not much to go by, if you keep having these dreams, you let me know as soon as possible, while the images are still fresh in your mind. That way we can get more details." I suggested.

"Thank you for your help, Tecna, this means a lot." Bloom got off the bed as my ladybug returned to my device, and as she left the room, I put the device back in my drawer. Normally I would think that dreams were just illusions of the subconscious mind, but considering Bloom's situation, not knowing how she is a fairy and where her powers come from, the dreams she's having might be crucial to finding that out. I didn't mind helping her out, it would make her search a lot easier. Looking at my blank computer screen, I began to think, today had nothing to do with mothers, but I must admit I did get a lot of things accomplished. I've met a couple people, found that I had the potential to be included in the most elite technology society known to the Magical Dimension, and I submitted numerous resumes in search of a part time job. This was the best Day of the Rose I've ever had.

* * *

A couple days later, I received a very secretive phone call telling me to go to a hidden location in Downtown Magix, I wasn't sure what to do, since I wasn't allowed to leave school grounds without a trusted escort. Ms. Faragonda knew I was going to Magix for the Day of the Rose, and I had constant contact with her throughout the day, but this was different, if this was the notification I was anticipating, my association with the Techno Magic Society had to be kept confidential. Although, what if it wasn't them, what if the same thing was going to happen to me that happened to Stella not too long ago? What if the Trix had something up their sleeve and were ready to attack again. I wondered if Musa would help me out if it was a trap? I turned to my roommate, who was laying on her bed with papers scattered everywhere and her textbook wide open.

"Musa, can you do me a favour?" I began, hesitant, I wasn't sure how she would respond. She lifted her head up once she heard me speak.

"Yeah." She answered quickly, readjusting her position on her bed and flipping the page of her textbook.

"I have to go into Magix for something, but I'm afraid it might be another trap set up by the Trix, do you think you can come with me?" I continued to ask her slowly. She began putting her things away as an indication of her response to my request. There was no question, wasn't she going to ask what I had to do, or why I might think it's an ambush by the Trix? It seemed odd to me that she would do this for me without stopping to wonder what she had to gain from it.

* * *

Musa and I stood a couple blocks from the secret location I was told about, I didn't want her to know where I was headed, but I did want her there for backup in case something did happen to me. It was a busy street, nothing looked out of the ordinary and there were plenty of people around as witnesses if anything strange would happen. I looked forward, and then back at Musa.

"Okay, if I call you on your cellphone, I'm in trouble and it was a trap." I told her before heading in the direction of the meeting location.

"So what am I supposed to do?" Musa yelled back before I could take a step further.

"Just wait here, if I don't call you within fifteen minutes, I'm okay." I explained hastily, I didn't want to be late if this was a legitimate initiation, and not some kind of plan to capture me. The music fairy just nodded in response and sat on a nearby bench to wait for my call. I finally reached the meeting spot, it was like a highly advanced business office, and I suppose it made a good cover. The phone call told me to meet in the downstairs floor of the building, and when I got off the elevator, it was dark. Despite the darkness, I continued to walk forward, when suddenly a light shone brightly in my eyes.

"Miss Tecna Logica, as a group, we have concluded that you may have a chance to take the initiation challenge, and become one of the elite members of the Techno Magic Society." I recognized that voice, it was the same man I talked to in the Magix mall. A panel of members sat in front of me, and the man stood behind a podium on of his own.

"The first challenge is how well you know the history of technology in the Magical Dimension, from the very first invention onward." Another man added, there was another, empty podium beside the one occupied by the young man I met before, and he offered me to sit there. I researched all the technology from every realm including Zenith in my spare time, and it was always fascinating to learn even more. Within about half an hour, I managed to answer the questions correctly, even elaborating on some of them in fuller detail, which astonished the members of the Society as the gave me expressions of approval.

"The next challenge is to take apart this laptop, and figure out what the hardware issue is, within half an hour." One of the Society members instructed me, as the young man from the mall brought out the equipment I needed. The member who gave me the instructions began to time me as I set to work on the task at hand. Opening up the bottom of the laptop, I could immediately see the problem, the main logic board had to be replaced, and that was exactly what I did. Tightening it up and closing the bottom of the laptop securely, I hesitantly started it up. Luckily it was running good as new, and I received a round of applause from the panel.

"In record time I must say." One of the older members declared, "within only twelve minutes and thirty two seconds."

"Do you think she's good enough to be approved for initiation, or should we proceed with the third and final test?" Another member whispered to the woman beside him.

"No exceptions, she must go through all the challenges, just like every other person who tried to become a part of our society." Another member interrupted them.

"All right, here is the third and final challenge for you to become a member of the Techno Magic Society, you must build a simple invention from these blueprints, you have two hours to complete the task." This didn't seem so complicated, I did this sort of thing all the time back in Zenith. I spent a lot of time in my room and didn't have much freedom, so I had to find activities to occupy myself. I looked at the blueprints thoroughly before I observed my materials. The invention was a small robotic arm, and the codes for all its functions were already in the blueprints, I just had to program them into the software. I managed to build the arm within forty five minutes, and began programming the codes next, moving back and forth, from testing to readjusting the codes so that every function worked properly. It was just in time too, I had completed the test, all the functions were working correctly, and the robotic arm itself was aesthetically designed. After a demonstration in front of the Society panel, they began to stand up and leave momentarily to make their final decision.

"Wait here a moment, Miss Logica." The last member instructed as I sat at the empty podium reserved for me. In about ten minutes, the panel returned and sat in their designated spots.

"As president of the Techno Magic Society's Magix chapter, I hereby announce that you, Tecna Logica of Zenith, are officially a member of our elite group. You have amazed us at every turn this afternoon, and we have seen your incredible ideas. Just from what we've gathered today I'm positive that you will not let us down." The oldest man in the panel stated after a moment of anxiety inducing silence. This had to be one of the greatest days of my life, I had never heard of the Techno Magic Society before now and I was stunned to know that I was missing out on such an opportunity. I got my official uniform and silver name tag from the president, as well as meeting and event information.

* * *

As expected, and I didn't mind at all, Musa returned to Alfea, she was not at the spot where we parted ways. One my way home I gave her a text, indicating that I managed to do what I needed in Magix and that it wasn't in fact a trap set up by the witches. As soon as I reached my bedroom and put away the uniform and information booklet, I saw that she continued with her homework.

"Musa, are you mad at me for dragging you all the way into Magix for what seemed like nothing?" I asked her with hesitation in my voice, I wasn't sure what she was going to say.

"No Tecna, you never know with those witches, they could be up to anything and we wouldn't even think about it. Even though you want to stay strong and independent, I do want you to be safe, I'm sure none of us want to be ambushed by them, especially after what Bloom and Stella went through." She reassured me evenly. This was different, I wasn't expecting anyone to go out of their way to look out for my safety besides Ms Faragonda, Musa didn't know anything about my past besides the fact that I didn't know who my mother was and what I ate every day. There was no reason for her to really look out for me, there was no reason for any of the other girls to look out for me. I'm glad she did though, but why did she offer to risk it? I didn't ask her though, I thought the answer would come to me in time. There was so much I never knew about the universe, I was discovering more and more each passing day, and the more I learned, the more questions I had.

* * *

It didn't take long for me to receive numerous emails and phone calls from the stores I submitted my resume to. During the afternoon that spent in Magix, I purchased a few business outfits to wear to these upcoming interviews. Unfortunately, one of the things that everyone was looking for were people skills, which I had little to no experience with. There were a few notifications informing me that I wasn't suited for their business, although I had the technical knowledge they needed. It took a while, and acceptance of a lot of rejection before I was finally hired to do unboxing of shipments at a dollar store near Downtown Magix, it wasn't the job I expected, I didn't get to use my knowledge of computers and advanced technology, but Ms Faragonda did say it'd be a chance to face new challenges, broaden my horizons. The manager didn't seem to mind that I lacked social skills, he reassured me after the interview that I'd learn more on the job, and because I was able to make friends at Alfea, I had already learned something. I couldn't wait to start my first job, and Ms. Faragonda was very pleased with hearing this news, she said it was a sign of maturity, independence and growth, something that ever since I left Zenith, I wanted to show.


	9. Betrayed

**Winx Club Episode Dialogue (c) Iginio Straffi And Rainbow S.r.l**

* * *

 **Chapter Nine: Betrayed**

A few weeks after I got the job at the dollar store, I was beginning to enjoy it despite the fact that I wasn't able to display my technical knowledge. My supervisor watched me throughout the previous weeks and he as time went by he was very impressed with my organizational skills and eye for detail, as well as how I was able to get more done within the time I had. I did get five minute breaks, and at first I insisted that I didn't need them, until the man that hired me said that it would be a good opportunity for me to improve on social skills, by conversing with my other coworkers. I continued to be slightly stand-offish during my break, until some of the others began talking to me and we ended up getting into good conversations.

Also in the past few weeks, I've received more confidential phone calls and emails from the Techno Magic Society about their next meetings and upcoming events. The thing about the society was that no one that knew you was to know you were a part of it, and if they saw you as a member during one of the events, they weren't supposed to address you. This was to make sure that no one tried to get into the Society through other members due to a previous friendship with them, special exceptions and whatnot. As I myself had experienced, the Techno Magic Society was only for the most knowledgeable experts in technology from all over the Magical Dimension, it took a lot to be accepted into their ranks and it was truly a privilege considering my age and lack of real life exposure.

I ended up crossing paths with Elyssa a couple times after I first met her at the Magix Mall on the Day of the Rose. She was asking me more about what Zenith was like, and I didn't know how to answer her question since I myself had never been outside the walls of Tonson's building. For reasons beyond me, she found my style of dress inspiring and I just told her that the colour of my hair was naturally magenta. Zenithians as well as some other realms have uncommon natural hair colours. Elyssa was saying that her next performance was in a couple weeks so she could prepare her new song and the choreography for the show. She had already written the song and just needed more details from me for inspiration. I felt honoured that I was the inspiration for her next performance, was it what I had said about expressing who she was? I didn't know I could change a person's mind this much in so little time.

It was morning, and the Winx and I were out to the quad getting some fresh air, it rained last night, so there were puddles of water everywhere we looked.

"Okay Bloom, was this dream more of a nightmare than any of the dreams you usually have?" I inquired as we continued walking around the moist ground. Ever since the Day of the Rose, Bloom started having strange dreams, and that night she asked me to keep notes and details of the dreams to analyze them. She had a feeling that they meant something to uncovering her past, and just because my past was horrifying and lonely, didn't mean that I wasn't going to deny her any help in finding out about hers, as long as it didn't involve going back to Cloudtower again of course.

"No, it wasn't a nightmare," She answered, "it wasn't really a dream either, I don't know." Bloom's rabbit, Kiko, joined us on our walk, he was hopping ahead of us, looking at his reflection in the puddles with curious eyes.

"Try to give me more details." I pressed, holding my ladybug scanner in my hand, beginning to open it up as Bloom tried to recall last night's dream..

"It's hard to explain," Bloom admitted, "it was a lot more vivid than a dream."

"Mmm, plastic cognitive projection, with physiochemical resonance." I began thinking while I allowed my bug scanner to roam free around Bloom's head to track her thoughts and the details she described to me. With the descriptions she gave me before, and the image she had in her head, my ladybug would be able to give me a projection of what the woman in her dreams looked like

"There were colours everywhere, and I saw a face, and this beautiful woman-" Bloom continued until I interrupted her with my commands to my ladybug scanner as it continued flying around her.

"Psycho-plasmatic evanescence apparition, level twenty-six." I continued my orders to my scanner for the image I wanted my device to show Bloom.

"Hey, Tecna, will you please stop cutting in with that thing." Musa insisted with a bit of irritation to her tone.

"It's okay, Musa," Bloom told her, "Tecna's been keeping a log of my dreams, to analyze them."

"If you slept hooked to an electro mind reader, I could." I reminded Bloom of the offer I gave her when she first asked me to help her analyze her dreams. The first time I offered the electro mind-reader, she had refused and preferred I stick to using my ladybug scanner instead.

"I get it," She sighed before looking ahead at Stella, "and by the way I'd appreciate it if you'd stop coming into my room at night."

"So what, I woke you up, that's all." Stella answered her request quite arrogantly.

"I processed all the data from my dream probe, and there's a strong possibility that that was a psycho-magic message." I continued telling Bloom after my ladybug had returned to me with all the information I needed.

"You mean the woman was trying to communicate with me?" Bloom asked.

"Through your dream, yes," I clarified, "from the memory waves she left in your cortex, I cam up with this. So what do you think, is this her?" I asked as a holographic image of what the woman in Bloom's dream was supposed to look like according to her memory, appeared from my device.

"Wow, Tecna, you're a true blue techno wizard!" Bloom gasped in amazement, I've always known wizards to be beings of evil nature, I never knew of one that was on the side of good, so even if Bloom didn't mean it, I took a bit of offence to her compliment.

"I'd rather be called a fairy," I told her simply, "but thanks anyway."

"Now that I get a better look at her, I'm sure I seen her somewhere. Of course, I remember now..," Bloom continued to ponder until a few seconds later, she gasped as she remembered where she saw the womens, "It was in Magix, in the main square. She wasn't walking about, but she was looking at me, from the facade of a tall building." She suddenly began staring into space, most likely trying to bring up what she witnessed before.

"Uh, now I get it," Stella interrupted, breaking the redhead from her thoughts, "I was indigestion!"

"My stomach is perfectly fine, Stella!" Bloom insisted sharply, obviously irritated by the fact that she interrupted her when she was in deep concentration. Furthermore my ladybug scanner couldn't get a good reading on Bloom's thoughts once they weren't as clear in her mind.

"I meant _mental_ indigestion," Stella clarified," you've got too much on your plate, what with

exams coming up you've got a lot to study. Plus you being an Earthling, your brain isn't use to working so hard, know what I mean?"

"No, I don't!" Bloom snapped, at the Solarian princess's comment, I could see Bloom's face fall with every word, and she began to get really ticked off by the time she heard it all. Musa, Flora and I only stood there steering clear of the argument. I had nothing to say at this point but I did have every intention of continuing to help Bloom analyze her dreams. Perhaps it was better to do it when it's just the two of us, nothing to disturb or discourage her.

"Listen, you had a _dream_ , that's all." Stella shot back

"It wasn't just a dream!" Bloom yelled, clenching her fists at her sides with frustration and anger.

"Bloom, boom, boom, Bloom." The blonde princess continued mocking her, now I didn't understand what she was trying to emphasize, at this point she was being just plain rude. I had given up trying to get a reading on Bloom's thoughts and memories of her dreams because Stella had interrupted, and I know Bloom did the same.

"Uh... are you being poetic or sarcastic?" I asked Stella, I was only assuming it was the second one, and to tell the truth I was actually hesitant to open my mouth and ask.

"Boom, Tecna, that's what you hear when a balloon bursts," Stella explained, "or when you blow things or of proportion."

"Are you saying I'm making things up?" Bloom asked defensively, "Well I'm not, okay. First, I was just hearing her voice but last night I saw her!"

"Boom!" was Stella's only response. Yes, I definitely think Bloom and I should do our dream analysis privately from now on, that is, if she still believed her dreams meant as much as they did prior to this argument.

"I did, she was real!" Bloom continued, snapping right in Stella's face before storming off as in frustration, "And I'll prove it to you!" Kiko only followed her back inside the school for fairies and leaving Flora, Musa and I completely stunned. We just stared at Stella with disbelief.

"What, what did I say?" She asked us, "Why the long faces? What?"

"You know damn well what you did!" Musa shouted, "This might not be important to you, but because Bloom has no memory of her origins or even why she's a fairy, this means a lot to her! And to have you tell her that she's blowing things out of proportion is not cool! So you know exactly why she's pissed off!"

"And wonder she wanted to come to me privately for help analyzing the dreams she's been having!" I added, "it's because of responses like yours that she knows she can only count on certain people for this type of thing."

"Are you girls freaking serious right now?" Stella snapped, "You're honestly taking Bloom's side?"

"How immature are you that you think this is about taking sides?" Flora piped in, and we suddenly turned shocked by what just came out of her mouth, "You fail to remember that Bloom wants to understand the world of magic on her own, and to talk down to her like she knows absolutely nothing and might never will is totally discouraging. You pretty much just called her a moron. What kind of friend are you?" Stella just stood speechless, even in the little amount of time we had known Flora had we ever heard her say such things. The nature loving fairy was not one to say anything bad about anyone, so when she surprises us, we could tell she meant business. The Solarian Princess had nothing more to say, so she turned to go back into the school without a word.

 **Timmy's Point of View**

It had been a while since I seen Tecna, the last time I seen her was before the Day of the Rose and I even promised her I'd give her the video game I was currently playing. If General Tyler ever knew I wasn't doing my job as a secret agent very well he'd fire me right on the spot. I had to see her again, but my studies were interfering with any chance of that happening, and the fact that I was so socially inept that even sending her a text or email was hopeless. This was one of those times when I'd agree if Riven told me to grow a pair, but none of the others had no idea why I ever wanted to talk to Tecna either than just to become friends. I was sitting at my computer, hard at work typing a report for the following Monday, when Sky and Brandon entered my bedroom and took me by surprise.

"Hey, Timmy, we need to go into Magix today, do you want to come with us?" Brandon offered while plopping down on his bed for a moment.

"Of course he does, anything to get him out of his room." Sky answered for me with a chuckle, "The last time talking to Tecna didn't scare you that bad, did it?"

"Ha ha, very funny, guys." I had to join in the laughter, I knew it was only light hearted teasing, it was one of the hints that I was part of the group, "Sure I'll go." This was another chance for me to finally do my job as a Fairy Protection Program secret agent, I had to stop losing my focus when I was around Tecna, if I did come across her on our way to Magix, my only mission should be to keep in contact with her, become her friend, gain her trust and use that as a means to protect her. I was leaving my feelings out of this and as Riven would tell me, I want to finally man up. I grabbed the video game I talked about with Tecna the last time I saw her, and hopefully I could get her to message me about it when she started playing.

 **Tecna's Point of View**

After Flora surprised us, I could tell that it only made Stella even more angry than she already was. There was just no getting to her head, and knowing that, I decided to look for Bloom. She was on her way to the library when I finally caught up with her.

"Bloom?" I called, slightly hesitant as I didn't know how she would react to me approaching her while she was still very angry with Stella.

"Oh, hi Tecna," She turned to look me square in the eyes, "I want you to be honest with me, do you think I'm blowing my dreams out of proportion too?"

"No," I answered her sincerely, "in fact I wanted to come to find you to see if you still wanted my help analyzing your dreams, if so I think it's better if we do it alone."

"Thanks to your help and what the woman's told me in the dreams, I have enough information to do some research in the library. I have a name now, I think she said her name is Daphne, and that's what I'm going to start with." Bloom insisted, "But thank you for all your help Tecna, and for still believing in my dreams with me even if no one else does. If I need more dreams analyzed, I know who to go to."

"Musa, Flora and I believe that these dreams are more than what they seem, they are definitely a key to your past, and your identity." I reassured her, "I'm not sure what Stella's problem is, she of all people should be the most supportive, you two are like best friends. Anyway, I hope you find the answers you're looking for." And she once again thanked me, rushing off in the direction of Alfea's library.

* * *

Flora decided to stay with Musa and I in our bedroom while things cooled off between Bloom and Stella. She was quietly talking to me while Musa studied at her desk at the other side of the room.

"I hope we're not distracting you, Musa." Flora replied kindly, "if so we cam talk somewhere else."

"Don't worry about it, Flora, you're fine." Musa assured her softly as she continued to bury her face back in her book. Suddenly there was a loud knock and the blonde princess of Solaria burst in through the door.

"Okay, Flora, how the Oblivion can you call _me_ immature? " She shouted furiously, marching right over to the nature fairy, "Bloom's the one making a big deal out of her _dreams_!"

"Stella, I thought that this discussion was over, Tecna is helping Bloom analyze her dreams, it's pretty clear that they are a magical form of communication for this woman. As I said, you don't realize just how important this is to her."

"I don't understand, I didn't say anything wrong," Stella protested, "I just made an innocent

remark, that's all." If she wants to insist that everything she's said up to this point has been innocent, she is definitely delusional.

"Right, define innocent." Flora replied sarcastically, normally she wasn't one to be sarcastic but I suppose the negative vibes were getting to her.

"Follow your plants example and be quiet, all right!" Stella shot back, had she just thought about what to say this whole time just to get back at Flora for what she said earlier? This was getting out of hand, and I had to applaud Flora for being the mature one and standing up for herself, and for Bloom.

"My plants know better than to speak before thinking!" Flora responded, although her voice was quiet and even, she still kept calm no matter how mad she was. Just then we could hear Musa mumble some choice words under her breath, the blonde Princess of Solaria and the nature loving fairy from Lynphea turned in her direction with looks of surprise on their faces

"Don't you start, Musa, or else I-" Stella threatened arrogantly, standing up to stare her straight in the eyes.

"Or else what?" She answered her defiantly.

"Or else I'll start talking about something else," Stella continued as Musa sat back down at her desk, " like boys, for instance." I still continued combing my hair as I listened to this conversation. Stella was being seriously difficult today, first, she upsets Bloom, then she goes for Flora, and now she's I had no idea what Stella's problem was today, she was seriously trying to get a rise out of anyone she came across, this was no way to get attention. I was almost ready to leave, but it was my room as much as it was Musa's.

"Boring," Was Musa's response to Stella's threat, "now if you'll excuse me, I've got stuff to read for tomorrow, and this is my room!

"Aw come on Musa, close that book and spill the beans," Stella pressed, by now the Solarian princess was sitting right on Musa's work desk, "like, we all know that whenever she see Timmy, our friend Tecna blushes from head to toe-" my eyes widened at her statement, and I instantly stopped combing my hair.

"What?" I shouted as I stood up with fists clenched, interrupting Stella furiously, "That is not true!"

"And it's obvious that Bloom has a soft spot for Brandon, as for me, I admit I do find Sky kind of cute, but that's it. Now let's talk about Riven... Riven, mmm?" Stella continued, the way she said Riven's name while looking her in the eyes sounded seductive, so that she could tempt Musa into talking about her feelings.

"I've got to study!" Musa insisted irritably, once again burying her face in her textbook.

"That guy doesn't even look at you, huh?" Stella resumed taunting her.

"Stella!" Flora interrupted her, "Stop it!" I was sitting on my bed silently, but just as irritated as everyone else in the room, I didn't even want to be a part of this argument at all.

"Chill Flora, I was just asking her-." She protested innocently.

"What did I just say, I don't care about stupid boys!" Musa snapped furiously, making Stella fall to the floor.

"It was just a joke," Stella waved her arms in the air while laying on the floor with her blonde hair spread everywhere, "and anyway, since the Day of the Rose, the only one Riven cares about is Darcy, of course you didn't know that, you weren't with us." I could only see so much, but I immediately knew she was about to burst into tears when Stella gave her this new information. Despite Riven's arrogance and the fact that Musa insisted she didn't want to waste her time trying to talk to him, it was clear to me that she still had feelings for him. It definitely showed within that split second.

"Yeah, well, what does it matter to me, huh?" Musa asked defiantly, trying desperately to hold the tears in, "It doesn't matter one bit!" Unfortunately she couldn't keep them in any longer, and ran out of the room crying. By now Stella turned around and was now laying on her stomach with her legs in the air. Flora and I walked toward her, and looked down at her with very angry expressions on our faces.

"Why are you all looking at me like that?" Stella asked, "What did I say?"

"Stella!" Flora and I shouted in unison.

"Now we have to go find Musa!" Flora lectured her, "I am sick and tired of you upsetting everyone you talk to today. I want you to go find her and apologize!"

"You guys just don't know how to take a joke." Stella only huffed, getting off of the ground and heading towards the door.

"That was no joke, you know Musa's feelings for Riven are a very sensitive topic for her!" Flora continued to scold Stella, "You should've never told her what happened on the Day of the Rose." Knowing Flora was right, the Princess of Solaria she sighed and walked out of our door.

 **Timmy's Point of View**

At this point on our trip to Magix, we were flying over Alfea in another one of Red Fountain'sOwls, I was manning the controls with Sky, and Brandon was hovering over us, and he happened to notice the video game hidden by my feet.

"Hey Timmy, why'd you bring your video game, you don't need to bring it back do you?" He asked me.

"No, I actually mentioned it to Tecna and if we just happened to come across the girls, it would be the perfect opportunity for me to finally lend it to her." I explained casually, it sounded like an innocent enough reason, and it was the truth.

"Nice!" Sky began cheering, "Stepping up to the plate and making a move. Way to grow some man cherries dude." I just chuckled slightly, they didn't even know the whole reason behind my interest in Tecna, they didn't need to, as long as I could convince them that I was actually trying to talk to a girl, that was good enough for me. Brandon suddenly turned to the ship's monitors, looking off into space as if they were watching for something to happen.

"Speaking of which, I wonder if the girls could use our help." He thought, "it's almost like I can sense it."

"All right, we're head over to Alfea, and if your gut feeling isn't right and the girls don't need our help, then you can stop worrying." I suggested as I began to manoeuvre the ship toward the school for fairies. Once we got closer, yet managed to stay out of sight, we waited a few minutes watching for them to come out. It felt almost as if we were stalking them, and I guess we were if I was being literal. I was prepared for Brandon to have this intuition that the girls might need us, and, sure enough Bloom, Stella, Flora and Tecna walked out from the main doors and ran towards the wing shaped gates of the school. I could tell they were having a discussion, but we couldn't hear a word.

"Do you think we could turn on the long range hearing device, Timmy?" Sky suggested.

"I don't know if that's a good idea, what if they see the ship?" I thought worriedly, it wasn't that I was just nervous that they would see us, I was also worried about what they would think knowing we were eavesdropping on their conversation and spying on them.

"Don't worry about it, we're out of sight, no one can see us. If they are having a normalconversation and nothing is wrong, then we'll leave." Brandon reassured me, "But I'm telling you they need our help."

"Fine." I sighed in defeat, pressing in a code in the control panel, and a small earpiece appeared above the controls. Now we could hear anything within thirty meters, and it did not sound good.

"So does anyone know what bus Musa took?" We heard Bloom ask.

"No, sorry, I don't." Stella answered, the tone in her voice sounded upset, what was going on with Musa that left Alfea by herself. The girls must've gotten into an argument base on what we were hearing.

"Guys, I think something's happened, let's try and get closer without being seen." Sky insisted in a low voice. I hesitated to move the Owl closer to the wing shaped gates of Alfea while continuing to listen to their conversation.

"Congratulations, Stella, Musa's gone and you don't know which bus she took!" Flora spoke up with some sarcasm. Something told me that I didn't not want to be around for what had just occurred, and I was glad it was over now.

"The only bus that stops here is the one from Magix." Stella explained in an irritated tone, I'm it's that exact vibe that's just so intimidating about girls, "It's a no brainer, Flora."

"Yeah, but she could've got off anywhere." Flora told her worriedly. By now we were close enough to them to just jump from the ship, and now we had enough information to know they could use our assistance. And right on cue, we jumped from the ship without hesitation, at least Sky did anyway.

"Do you need a prince, my princesses?" The Prince of Eraklyon asked the four fairies as Brandon and I followed his lead, "Hi." The Princess of Solaria suddenly turned around to see him, her face lighting up with the surprise.

"Sky!" Her eyes widened at the very sight of him, and standing right beside her was Tecna. This was my chance, I pushed all emotion to the back of my mind and focused on my main objective, to gain Tecna's trust and friendship in order to serve my purpose as a secret agent to protect her.

"Yes, we all saw him, we know his name." She sighed, I heard just as much irritation in her voice than everyone else, it made me a little nervous," No need to yell."

"Hi Tecna." Despite me nervousness, I addressed her while jumping down from the Owl, and Brandon jumped right down on the other side of Sky. I think I must have taken her by surprise.

"Hi Bloom," Brandon began, "we saw you at the bus stop and we thought maybe you needed a ride."

"Hi Brandon, actually you guys are showing up just in time." She admitted softly, I could tell every since she met him that there might be something between those two.

"Riven's not with you?" Flora inquired.

"Riven.., after what happened at the Rose ball, he's out of the group." Sky explained.

"He decided to join another squad of Specialists," I added, "which is fine by us."

"We've got to find Musa, she went to Magix and-" Bloom began worriedly, only to be interrupted by Brandon.

"Well, then, get in," he insisted, "that's where we're going, you can fill us in on the way. Come on!" So the girls followed us onto the Owl, talking some seats at the back on a couple of crates. Once we were airborne again, Brandon joined the girls at the back of the ship while Sky and I drove.

"So, what happened to Musa, why did she run off?" He asked.

"Well, I kind of... upset her by tempting her to talk about Riven." Stella confessed with a sigh, "And I told her that he was only interested in Darcy after the Day of the Rose."

"That's pretty bad, Stella." Brandon told her.

"I know, I've already got a lecture from the girls and I feel guilty enough as it is." The Solarian princess resumed pouting in the back of the ship. Tecna decided to sit with me at the front, which was perfect, unfortunately now our mission was to locate Musa, and my personal mission to befriend Tecna would have to wait. Sky and I had a digital map ready for when we reached Magix, and it would tell us where exactly Musa was. It took us about ten minutes before we reached downtown, and Brandon watched the monitor carefully before he spotted something.

"I see a red light, that has to be Musa!" he shouted, and everyone huddled around to see what was going on, "but she's being chased by a group of Cloudtower witches."

"Well at least it's good that we found her." Flora replied with a sigh of relief, "Now we have to deal with the witches that are after her."

"There she is, they're after her and she's stuck in a dead end!" Brandon continued the girls gasped with worry, "We're going to have to move quickly." And at his command, I moved the ship down to where we saw Musa. In front of the group of witches, the two notorious witches Icy and Stormy hovered down, completely surrounding Musa. I had no other options if I was going to be able to get Musa out of there, some damage had to be done. Fortunately the buildings around this area were all old and abandoned, so no charges for vandalism would be laid against Red Fountain.

"All right, I'm going to have to bust down this wall." I told the rest of the group, and in a matter of minutes, the wall blocking Musa's escape was destroyed. I touched down, and we ran out to get her. After the dust settled, the witches looked astonished, and Musa turned to see the Red Fountain ship, and our group standing there waiting for action.

 **Tecna's Point of View**

I stood behind Sky and Brandon, knowing it would come to having to transform. When I know Musa left Alfea on her own, I didn't expect her to be targeted by a large gang of Cloudtower witches. Mrs. Faragonda was definitely right when she warned us to stay away from them. I wasn't ready for a full-out battle, and I didn't think I would ever be, however I would try my best and stand my ground in the face of danger for a friend.

"Guys!" Musa shouted in great relief.

"Musa!" we called to her as she ran to us as the remainder of the wall collapsed beside us. Brandon chuckled just a little, preparing for a fight, when suddenly we all saw their old teammate run up to the upcoming battle.

"Brandon!" Riven shouted, the he ordered a witch to move out of his way, "Now.., let's see if you're going to be tough.., with me too." Then, Riven drew his sword and was ready to go head to head with the blonde squire. I didn't know what the rivalry was between Brandon and Riven, it was definitely more than just friendly competition.

"You want to play rough, huh?" Brandon drew his blue sword, ready to take him on, "Well, if that's what you want!" At that moment, he ran up to Riven, swords slashing against each other as the two fought it out.

The witches watched them for a few seconds before deciding to charge after us on the command of a random witch, as they ran passed Icy and Stormy at full speed. Though unexpectedly, green flames emerged from the ground, they came from from Sky's sword, stopping the witches in their tracks from coming any further towards our group. He chuckled confidently as they looked in his direction, realizing what just occurred. They had no idea what to do for a minute before the entire area began to get increasingly cold, and I could only assume it was coming from none other than Icy.

"What's going on?" One of the other witches asked. Icy was beginning to get furious with every passing second, and Stormy was quickly losing her temper as she suddenly raised her arms and shot lightning towards the sky. This was going to get ugly, from the looks of the situation, I cam only estimate the outcome would not turn out in our favour. I looked up at the sky and began to wonder rather I was ready to face the Trix yet, even in our combined team efforts, but they had numerous other witches on their side, giving them quite an advantage.

"Oh, this looks bad, let's transform." Bloom suggested, and in an instant, we transformed, I was a little worried about what would happen once we completed our transformation, and to be honest, I was slightly cared. Once our transformation was finished, we stood our ground, waiting for the first move to attack. However, an attack from Stormy caught me right off guard as I was hit from behind, I flew backwards, letting out a surprised scream, and I hit my head hard on the pavement before blacking out entirely...

 **Timmy's Point of View**

This was my moment, I know it would come eventually, a time when I would have to protect Tecna from any dangers. I didn't know why, but those answers would soon come to me. I watched her fly backward from Stormy's sudden attack and hit the ground, and without hesitation I sprinted into action, running towards her as I realized she was now unconscious.

"Tecna, Tecna are you okay?" I asked, carefully lifting her head from its uncomfortable position leaning backward when she fell, as I expected, there was no response, and that's when I knew my chance had come. I had to use the First Aid training, I learned from my first years in the Fairy Protection Program, but it was dangerous for me to do it in the middle of a battle, and this was the very first time I was ever able to touch a girl, or ever be this close to one. I turned for a second to watch the battle rage on without me and Tecna participating, I could tell she wasn't coming out of unconsciousness any time soon. If I couldn't do anything else for the moment, I just had to watch her, to monitor her and make sure that no one takes advantage of her vulnerable state. I was hesitant to do anything else, but I knew I had to at least do something instead of staring pathetically at her while she could be in serious pain.

" _Come on, Timmy, you're blowing your mission, do something you pathetic piece of crap!_ " I thought to myself as my hands began to sweat. The young fairy that I was assigned to protect was lying unconscious right in front of me, and I was too much of a wuss to do anything about it. I breathed in heavily, lying her down gently on the pavement so she was in a better position when she came to, her legs were still upright from when she was knocked out, so I assumed that she wasn't hurt in that particular area. The most likely place she could've gotten hurt was her neck and back. I knew I couldn't do a full inspection right in the middle of the fight, but I also knew that just placing her in a better position wasn't good enough. Why in the Magical Dimension was I so nervous, so unsure of myself? I had a plan, I had the knowledge and the training to know what to do when I see someone unconscious and potentially injured. Was it because I was tending to a woman, I didn't think I'd be in this situation, I've always thought I'd be more of a behind the scenes secret agent, making sure to do my job without being noticed. In a couple seconds I managed to gather myself, and tried hard to picture being in training back at Red Fountain. I nervously felt the back of her neck, making sure I didn't do any more damage if she was actually injured in that spot, luckily, as I moved my fingers gently, I could feel no broken bones. Though I was still panicked, knowing that Tecna was still not moving an inch since she was knocked out, once I know she was okay for the moment, I turned back to watch Bloom and Stormy go at it, Flora was on the ground, so I just assumed Bloom was trying to help her out. She attacked Stormy, hitting her in the side of her hip, and burning her skirt in the process, making the witch of storms even more pissed off than she already was. She began to conjure up wind as leaves began to blow, the last thing I needed was for any of the witches to attack while Tecna was still unconscious, I had no way of defending her while she was in this condition, so it would just made me look cowardice, so much for growing a pair of man cherries, Sky. Now that I knew what was going on around us, I back at Tecna, who was still motionless.

"Tecna..," I breathed nervously, " _come on, please wake up._ " Suddenly I heard a gust of wind from a short distance away, and I snapped my head to see Icy, she had an evil grin on her face as she extended an arm, and ice crawled along the ground toward Tecna's legs. They were quickly being incased in ice, and I lifted her head again so the ice wouldn't bury her completely.

" _Oh crap, now I'm screwed_." I thought to myself, the one chance I had to prove that I could be a FPP secret agent, and I end up allowing the fairy I was assigned to be frozen in ice within the first two months of my mission. I watched Icy carefully to make sure she didn't make any sudden moves that would finish both me and Tecna off for good. A part of me didn't want Tecna to wake up at the moment, but another part of me wished she would. The one time I forgot my laser gun in the Owl, I would've had more of a chance if I had it, but I didn't expect there to be a full out battle awaiting us when we found Musa. I continued to look down at Tecna while I still supported her head with my arm, I trying so hard not to be nervous, I had no magic, no weapon in hand, and I had an obligation to prevent any other harm from getting to Tecna. After a year at Red Fountain, you'd think I'd know how to handle situations like these, but we did not cover how to fight against a magical opponent without a weapon in Red Fountain's defence classes yet, but I wasn't going to roll over and quit, not when I had my manhood and dignity to prove.

"Hang in there, Tecna." I begged her quietly, if anything I would hope that hearing my voice would help her come out of unconsciousness.

"How cute, frozen love birds." Icy laughed, then suddenly she shot yet another powerful attack of ice directly at us, and I knew this was going to be it.

"No!" I shouted, closing me eyes for the final impact, when suddenly, I could see a blur of orange jump right in the line of fire. It was Stella, and she used a shield to block the ice from reaching us. I heaved a great sigh as I watched the Princess of Solaria.

"Pathetic." Icy scoffed, trying to fight off Stella, although I will admit she was right. This was pretty weak, having a fairy fight my battles for me, at this rate Riven would probably post this all over the internet if he still attended Red Fountain, I'm just thanking the Great Dragon he switched squads by now. The ice that Tecna was half frozen in began to melt under Stella's sun powers, however Icy was still going strong, and they fought with their powers for a couple minutes before we all saw something bright and colourful out of the corner of our eyes. It was Bloom. Her sudden outburst of magic power distracted Icy long enough for Stella to finally accomplish unfreezing a little bit of the ice surrounding Tecna.

"Who is this?" Icy asked in surprise, stopping her attempts to freeze us, obviously she had more important things to do that deal with a helpless Specialist, an unconscious technology fairy and a fairy of the sun and moon that looked to be an equal match for her. She opened a clenched fist to reveal something in her hand, it was telling her something crucial about Bloom's power, something we had yet to discover for ourselves, eventually.

"Could she be...? Oh, it's her!" the ice witch continued with pure astonishment as she observed the magical object in her hand. Stella and I watched as Bloom's magic exploded with a hot and powerful force that no one had ever seen before. With the heat it emitted, the ice along the side of the road instantly melted, setting Tecna completely free from her frozen prison, and I was relieved as well. The power shot all three witches from out of the sky, and abruptly made Brandon and Riven stop their fight, the light could be seen from at least a twenty mile radius. The Trix ended up falling to the ground one by one, and when Darcy fell, Riven was right by her side to assist her. All the other witches that were involved running away from the battle scene, and the three witches soon followed. Brandon and Sky looked stunned, and as Bloom's powers faded away, she collapsed on the pavement and Brandon went to help her up. I still stared blankly at Tecna, who, despite all the commotion, was still unconscious and motionless. Now I could put all that I had learned in First Aid to use as I began feeling around her arms, legs and the sides of her stomach for anything broken due to impact, and thankfully there was no injuries to take into account. Stella and Sky walked over to us while Brandon was talking Bloom back to the Owl.

"Thanks a lot for the help, Stella," I told her, "you saved our asses back there."

"Yeah, well I've been acting like a total bitch today, it's the least of many things I could do to make it up to everyone." The blonde sighed shamefully, then suddenly I heard a groan from behind me, and turned my attention to Tecna.

 **Tecna's Point of View**

I began to open my eyes slowly to see three faces looking down at me, Stella, Sky, and Timmy, I groaned painfully and squinted my eyes to block the light out.

"Tecna, Tecna are you okay?" Timmy asked me, after I slowly opened my eyes. I realized I was still lying on the pavement where I had fallen.

"I... think so..." I began to answer his question and lift myself off the ground, "My head feels like I'm trying to load a webpage with too little bandwidth." I know I made no sense to him at the moment, and with Stella staring right at me, I was surprised she didn't make a snide remark.

"Hold on, Tecna, I'll help you get back to the ship." He insisted, this caused me to blush slightly, and yes, I will admit that Stella was definitely right, I did blush around Timmy.

"Oh, I knew it!" And just like that, I spoke too soon, Stella noticed my cheeks turning pink as he gave me a shoulder to lean on, "I told you, Tecna!"

"Told her what?" Timmy asked.

"Stella, I don't think now is the best time, Tecna took quite a blow." Sky warned her as Timmy assisted me to my feet, swinging my arm around him shoulder and walking me back. Once we were onboard, he sat me down in the passenger seat beside him, and I rested my head on the back of it.

"What happened?" I asked everyone.

"Just your typical battle between us and the Trix, except we were getting our asses handed to us on a silver platter." Stella informed me, trying very hard to be quiet enough so my head wouldn't hurt.

"Where's Bloom?" I inquired.

"In the back with Brandon, she's a little weak from the amount of power she used all at once." Sky explained.

"She single-handedly stopped the entire battle with one burst of energy." Flora added.

"That doesn't seem logical." I responded softly to her statement.

"Who cares if it doesn't sound logical to you," Stella stated quite abruptly, "most of us saw it first hand, it might not have made sense but it happened." The rest of the girls and Sky went to the back of the ship, and I continued to rest a bit more in the seat beside Timmy. After about fifteen minutes or so, I was able to sit up straight, and I could hear everyone talking in the back of the aircraft.

"How are you feeling?" I heard Brandon ask Bloom from where she was sitting on one of the cargo crates.

"Much better," her answer sounded tired and was quick, "thanks."

"Oh well, with such love and care, how could you not." Stella interrupted, she and Flora were sitting on a crate beside Musa, who was sitting on one by herself across from the redhead. Sky was standing next to her.

"Oh please, Stella." Flora huffed, still very irritated from the argument before, obviously she knew Stella was going to start something once more.

"And how about you, Musa?" Sky asked the music fairy.

"Everything's okay now Sky." She reassured him. The ship had taken off ten minutes ago, and we were about to reach Alfea any time, and just as expected, Timmy turned to the back of the ship to inform Brandon of our arrival.

"We're approaching Alfea, Brandon." He told him, I was strong enough to get out of my seat and join the group, I wasn't too weak now, but I just couldn't but my finger on why I was knocked out so easily.

"Are you sure you can walk back, Bloom?" Brandon asked her with concern in his voice, "You still look weak to me."

"Yes, yes, it's better if no one sees us coming with you guys." Bloom insisted as I made my way to the back of the ship.

"Uh, I still don't understand how you managed to single-handedly beat three witches." I interrupted him curiously, perhaps Bloom had discovered something new about her powers that she was still learning how to use,

"I don't either." Bloom admitted, even stunned by her own actions, it was a mystery for all of us.

"Well, if nothing else, I have learned something important today." Musa chimed in, her voice still very exhausted, just like the rest of us.

"You finally discovered that I'm always right, is that it?" Stella guessed, I didn't understand her, one minute she was trying to be sincere and nice and the next she was as arrogant and self absorbed as the day I met her.

"No, never stick around where witches like to hang out." Musa clarified, completely disregarding how boastful Stella was.

"Musa, you got to admit I was right about you and Riven," the Solarian princess pressed.

"Even so, I saw him in action today and I think he's lost every bit of charm he ever possessed."Musa confessed, "One thing's for sure, I don't ever want to see him again, he's become a real jerk!"

"Oh, you admit it!" Stella pointed directly to her with a slight satisfied chuckle..

"Admit what?" Musa asked defensively, "I didn't say anything."

"Yes, yes, I was right, I was right about you, and I was right about Tecna," she pointed to me next, "and about Bloom."

"About me, what about me?" Bloom questioned, obviously being taken by surprise as she was distracted with her own thoughts.

"You know, you and-" Stella continued until Flora cut her off before she could say another word.

"Oh, um, nobody, right Stella?" Flora reminded her in a very sweet and soft voice, though the underlying intention was pretty clear to the Princess of Solaria.

"Uh, yes, right." Stella chuckled nervously, seeing who she was about to mention was right in front of her, "I think I better shut up now." We all began laughing as Stella finally sat down next to Flora again. Minutes later, we touched down at Alfea's gates and the girls and I were about to off the ship when someone stopped me in my tracks.

"Tecna wait," I suddenly heard Timmy shout from behind me, and I turned abruptly to face him, "I remembered the video game I mentioned a couple weeks ago, I thought I'd get a chance to lend it to you." This was kind of a surprise, why would Timmy have the video game on the ship unless he was actually expecting to see me today in order to give it to me. It didn't matter though, from what it looked like it was a fun game and I couldn't wait to try it.

"Thanks." I answered him hesitantly, taking the case from his hands as he headed back into the ship.

"Let me know if you like it, you can PM me if you have any questions about the game." He insisted, waving to me as he left my field of view. As the Red Fountain ship took off, the girls and I headed straight into Alfea.

* * *

Everyone except for Stella was in the common room that night, when suddenly, we heard an ear piercing scream coming from the bathroom.

"No wonder I was such a bitch today!" I heard Stella shout, and I few minutes later, she came out of the bathroom with another skirt on, "And my skirt is totally ruined!"

"Let me guess," Musa began, "a woman's favourite time of the month."

"Mm hmm," Stella sighed, "I'm so sorry girls."

"It happens to all of us, Stella, no need for apologies." Bloom reassured her.

"Though it is a good explanation as to your mood swings today." I added softly.

"Yeah, well, I'm going to take a shower and go to bed early." Stella replied, "See you girls in the morning."

"Night Stella." We called back in response, I was one of the girls who wasn't upset by Stella today, however I was still a little woozy from being knock out in battle, and now I must admit that Stella was right about how I felt around Timmy, I did blush for some illogical reason. Now the next challenge I would have to face would be midterms, that was one obstacle I knew I was going to overcome successfully.


	10. Tested

**Winx Club Episode Dialogue (c) Iginio Straffi And Rainbow S.r.l**

* * *

 **Chapter Ten: Tested**

The day before midterms finally arrived, and despite my phenomenal grades, I felt slightly nervous, this wasn't a written test like in the classroom, this was a simulation test. It meant it would be more hands on, and I was the only one who lacked experience in that area. During the week I had studied all of my notes from every class, and the girls and I had study parties to help us prepare. Professor Palladium was the one in charge of the famous simulator room, which I was anticipating to finally not just be able to see for myself, but to be able to physically step inside and take a test in. The girls and I were out on the quad of Alfea, gathered around the well talking about how we would get to see the simulator this afternoon to get an idea of what to expect for our test. Bloom, however, seemed to have her thoughts elsewhere as she stared at her reflection in the water, tossing coin after coin down the well as minutes passed. She seemed to not be a part of the conversation as Stella was rambling on about how she was going to ace the simulator test, which was only wishful thinking because she was the only one of us who didn't study.

"Hey Bloom, are you ready for Professor Palladium's simulator test tomorrow?" she suddenly asked her best friend, "Bloom, are you even listening?"

"No, I don't think she is, Stella." Flora answered softly for Bloom, who was still staring into the water of the well.

"Bloom, Bloom!" Stella began yelling loudly to get Bloom's attention, "Bloom, hey, yoo-hoo!" And with all Stella's yelling, she finally snapped from her thoughts to turn in our direction.

"Huh?" Bloom asked as her final coin fell down the well, she looked towards Stella to give an answer to her question.

"You're losing it, girl," She groaned irritably, "did you even hear a single word that I said, huh?"

"Sorry, Stella, I was kind of lost in thought." Bloom admitted, "So what were you saying?" Stella and Musa just giggled slightly at Bloom's absence in the conversation.

"Obviously, you have no interest in the fact that Professor Palladium is finally going to take us all into the famous simulation room," Musa reminded Bloom, "but I for one, think it is the most amazing bit of news ever!" I was more interested in the mechanics of the simulation room, how everything was controlled and operated flawlessly to create numerous scenarios. A perfect combination of technology and magic. The first time Professor Palladium told us about the simulation room, he didn't spare any details when describing the things it was capable of doing.

"No kidding," Stella added, "I heard that some really cool things happen in that place."

"Yeah, and some horrible ones too." I could understand why Flora was a little nervous, I had my reasons for being nervous about taking the exam, and she was also scared of something going wrong. She would be in an environment controlled by technology, and I didn't take it as an insult that she didn't fully trust technology, I felt the same way when I had to go to Black Mud Swamp for that field exercise. I was in an environment filled with nature, and remembering how I felt built understanding for how Flora must feel now. Throughout this first year at Alfea I've been exposed to more emotions than I ever had in my life, despite that, I was still very weary of emotional expression.

"You shouldn't let that scare you Flora," I reassured her, "they're just stupid rumours anyway. I mean, what could really ever happen to you in there?" And after what seemed like a millisecond, her worried expression disappeared and she smiled.

"You're right." The nature loving fairy agreed, I had complete trust in Professor Palladium that he wouldn't allow us to enter the simulator if it was going to put his students in danger.

"Oh come on, Flora, it'll be fun, you'll see." Stella added while walking up to her, "As for me, I plan on having a great experience. One that will go down in history, so that _I_ will become the talk of Alfea!"

"Stella!" We scolded her when random fairies faced in our direction, hearing her announcement.

"Oops, sorry." She admitted, and we began laughing. Knowing how the Princess of Solaria is now, I've learned to accept her the way she is and just laugh when she gets too self absorbed. But that didn't mean I still think that since she was the only one who wasn't taking the upcoming exams seriously, she was only going to fail if she didn't put in the effort

* * *

The moment finally came when Professor Palladium was going to take us to see the simulation room, and standing there on the platform, surrounded by the lights that made up the entire room, I was left absolutely wordless. It was remarkable, it took my breath away to come to the realization that I was actually standing in Alfea's famous simulation chamber, something that just months ago I wouldn't have ever dreamed of happening. I stared in awe as many of the other students gasped in astonishment.

"This is it," Professor Palladium announced, "the simulation room!"

"What is it exactly?" Someone inquired from the back of the group.

"Well, it's the project of the most powerful magic, and the most sophisticated technology," he explained, causing me to light up with pure excitement and thrill at the mention of how this was the result of technology and magic co-existing to its greatest potential. The mechanics of the simulation control panel that he was going to show us in a moment, were just outstanding, it would have to be in the area of the most advanced technology to keep such a massive system in working order, "The light produced by these amber panels allows our powerful computer to create all kinds of virtual realities and environments. The replications are absolutely flawless."

"Uh, can it be used to simulate virtual dates with boys?" Stella asked, and I knew what her question was supposed to imply, of course she saw my face light up when Professor Palladium explained how the simulator worked, and she also knows I couldn't be bothered to go on a real date, therefore, it was in what she insisted to be my best interest that if I wasn't going to go on a real date, a simulated one would have to do.

"You'll be sure to get one then." One of our classmates called out while the rest of the class began laughing and I had to admit that I laughed a little too, causing her to blush in embarrassment. After having second thoughts about joining in the laughter, I just turned my head, knowing that the comment made for me had backfired directly in her face.

"Yes, well, why don't we all simulate your final exam instead." Professor Palladium suggested, drawing everyone's attention back to him as the rest of the class stopped laughing abruptly, "In the anticipation of the upcoming midterm, I've set up for you a simulation of some of the things that will definitely be on the test." He directed us to the other room that I could see above where the simulation chamber was. The controls were the heart of the operation, where all the magic happened, literally.

"Now, let's all go and have a look at the control room." Professor Palladium resumed his lesson while we entered the control room, "From here, we oversee everything that goes on in the simulation room." As I was able to see the giant control panel in front of me, I was amazed by all the buttons, dials and switches that made everything come to life. Stella was standing right next to me, witnessing the pure wonderment that was written on the expression on my face. I was half expecting her to make another comment about how I'd rather live my life in a simulator than go outside and experience reality, based on what she was trying to get at just five minutes ago.

"This is toy land for you, right?" she whispered to me in a quiet voice as I turned to her with hands on my hips, suddenly retracting my reaction when I realized she had no bad intentions.

"Mmm, yeah," I sighed happily, "it's so wonderful." As the rest of the class piled into the room, we crowded around the controls while Professor Palladium took a seat in the chair in front of us. There was a big smile fixated on my face as he continued to explain to us what the midterm that would entail.

"You'll be able to choose between two tests, look." he began pressing buttons, typing in codes, and seconds later the screen on the wall began to light up," Your first option is.., to use magic to counteract the unfortunate results of evil spells cast by a group of wicked witches." As I watched the simulation form of a group of witches turning a few boys into frogs, I got to thinking, if I couldn't be able to fight in battle, perhaps my magic could be put to better use in this matter. It would be a great asset to the Winx to be able to undo evil spells, after all, according to recent events we were facing the Trix almost regularly now.

"Do they ever look real?" Bloom gasped, watching the simulation on the screen.

"Yeah, they sure are super ugly." Stella added just as quietly.

"Now, option number two, use magic to produce positive results in a damaged environment." Professor Palladium concluded after typing in the code for the next simulation.

"That's my strong point." Flora admitted with a confident smile on her face.

"It'll be a simple walk in the park for someone like me." Stella boasted, I was surprised that she wasn't suddenly intimidated by the simulator after not even bothering to study for the exams. It was pure denial.

"Modesty is your best quality, hmm?" Bloom teased the Solarian princess, however the joke flew right over her head, and she thought her best friend was being serious.

"No, my second best." She continued bragging, "Right after.., beauty."

"We'll all meet here tomorrow for your midterm," Professor Palladium informed his class, "please do come well prepared and ready to go, believe me, this will be an experience you'll remember for a very long time." His words made me even more intrigued by the thought of entering the simulator, this was something I never thought would happen to me.

* * *

Late that night, I managed to fall asleep after a few more hours of studying, however my dreams were a little more unsettling than I would have liked. During the night, a strange feeling that something was happening to the simulator began to grow, it was as though my powers over technology were allowing me to connect with the computer that was controlling the simulation chamber. I could immediately sense dark energy surrounding it, and to me the idea was just too

frightening to ignore, being in a technology controlled chamber in which the computer controlling it was tempered with by a dark spell, was very unsettling despite my expertise. In my sleep, I started to toss and turn under my bedsheets as my powers allowed me to receive this piece of information. In my dreams I witnessed a code being entered into the computer that I had stood in front of just that afternoon, numbers flashed down the screen as the lights of the controls flickered chaotically.

"Error, error!" I heard a computerized voice exclaim, "Mainframe malfunction!" At those horrifying words, I felt my heart race in my chest, this has never happened to me before, my magic has never connected with other technological devices. It may be because I was developing them much more than I ever had prior to attending Alfea. Flashing colourful lights from the control panel faded to darkness as beeps and error sounds continued to fill my subconscious mind. Suddenly my eyes opened abruptly and I shot up, sitting in my bed, panting heavily.

"Tecna, are you okay?" I heard Musa whisper loudly from her bed on the other side of the room. Of course with her sonar hearing abilities, she could be able to sense anything I had been doing in my sleep.

"What was I doing, was there something wrong?" I asked her, obviously it looked to her like I was troubled if she needed to ask me if I was okay, and after the dream I just had, no I wasn't okay.

"You just look like you saw a ghost." She admitted tiredly.

"That's Illogical, ghosts don't exist." I protested, my voice sounded just as groggy as hers.

"It's a figure of speech, Tecna," Musa groaned, "You just looked like you saw something terrifying. Are you stressing out about tomorrow?"

"No," I told her, "but I think my powers might be granting me the ability to connect with the simulator, in my dream I saw a code being entered, it flashed on the screen. Then I heard the computer declare a mainframe malfunction error message."

"Well, if that did happen, Professor Palladium would catch it right away and let us know that the midterm has been postponed. Until then we don't know for certain." Musa attempted to reassure me, but my powers could not steer me wrong, I had to tell the professor about this the very instant I had the chance.

"I suppose there's nothing I can do about it now, but I'm dead serious that the simulator has been tempered with." I sighed with defeat, falling back on my bed as my head hit the pillow.

"Is it too scary for you to sleep?" Musa asked me while getting under her own blankets once again.

"I'm going to have to try, it's all I can do for now," I yawned, shutting my eyes hesitantly, "good night Musa."

* * *

The next day, I couldn't stand it any longer, despite having a restful sleep the previous night, what I saw in my dream still frightened me, and my powers over technology were giving me this crucial opportunity to possibly save an innocent student's life, never mind their grades. The midterm took place after lunch, so I had time to look for Professor Palladium before the test began. Luckily he was walking down the hallways in the classroom wing, heading toward the simulation room to prepare.

"Professor Palladium, there's something I need to tell you." I called out as he turned back and looked in my direction, "it's about the simulator, and it's very important."

"Are you nervous about the midterm, Tecna?" He questioned, giving me a look of reassurance, " I think based on your progress in your one on one battle classes with Ms. Faragonda, I'm going to have you go near the end, just in case."

"No, that's not what I'm concerned about," I continued, "last night I believe my magic allowed me to connect with the computer in the control room. I saw a code on the screen and the computer announced an malfunction."

"Oh, that is very serious, if I send one of you students in the chamber with that going on, who knows what could happen." He thought, "I'll check it out before the midterm starts, and I must say Tecna that your powers are developing quite significantly."

"Thank you Professor." I answered with a wave as I walked back down the hall to meet up with the other girls before we had to take the simulator test.

The moment was finally here, Professor Palladium took a second earlier to pull me aside and reassure me that nothing was wrong with the controls of the simulator. However if anything did happen he would know what to do. Everyone in our class was gathered around him in the control room to determine who would go first. Despite his reassurance, I couldn't sense any dark magic coming from the computer myself, although I was still alert and on guard.

"All right, ladies, in a few minutes we'll begin, you'll go one at a time," Professor Palladium began as he walked over to the controls.

"I'm just so nervous." Musa admitted in a quiet whisper in Flora's ear.

"Oh yeah, I hope I don't get to go first." The nature fairy agreed. I just stood there, arms crossed, waiting for anything suspicious to happen, but hiding my doubts away from my classmates so as not to create unnecessary panic.

"I think it might be better to go first," Stella chimed in, I honestly admired her optimism, but shook my head at her pure obliviousness when it came to the consequences of not studying, "that way you get it over with, and then it's off your mind... Bloom, did you hear what I said?" A smile was fixed on Bloom's face while she contemplated Stella's words.

"Yeah, it might be better." She thought to herself.

"Quit!" Professor Palladium ordered, "All right, everything is ready, let's get the ball rolling. Which one of you ladies wants to go first?"

"Oh my." Flora gasped while other fairies began protesting, shaking their heads with doubt. I still stood there, inside I hoped that what I seen last night didn't occur right before our eyes when least expected. One of my closest friends could be in real danger and I had the power to prevent it, but not the authority, that was up to Palladium.

"Stella, I thought you said you wanted to get this over with." Musa reminded the Process of Solaria.

"I changed my mind." The blonde instantly retracted her earlier statement, and it was pretty predictable that she would.

"Just as I thought," Professor Palladium concluded, seeing the obvious nervousness of his students, "I'll pick a volunteer.., Bloom! Which one of the tests did you choose?"

"Uh.., well, the second option, sir," Bloom acquiesced after a minute, "I want to work on a damaged environment."

"Excellent choice, girl." Flora whispered proudly while leaning towards her roommate.

"Come on then," the professor directed Bloom to follow him, "you can choose the environment. What would you like?" Bloom went over to the controls with him as he waited for her answer.

"I was thinking of a desolate environment." She told him as he began typing in the code for the simulation, "The most desolate possible."

"Okay, there's this place called.., Domino," Professor Palladium informed her, "it's the saddest most miserable place in the Magical Dimension. Have you ever heard of Domino?"

"No, I've never heard of it," Bloom admitted with a hint of wonder to her tone, "but I'm sure it'll be perfect."

"Well then, here it is." Palladium continued typing at the simulator's controls as the code came up on the screen, "As soon as you enter the simulation room, Domino will appear around you, are you ready?"

"Yes," Bloom announced confidently, only to turn back seconds later, "uh, I brought a few ingredients for potions and stuff, can I take them with me?" She walked over to pick up her small blue backpack that she had left on the floor.

"Sure, take whatever you want." Professor Palladium encouraged her kindly as he opened the door to the simulation room, "There you go, the test will last thirty minutes, I'll be in the computer room controlling everything, now do your best!"

"I will." Bloom reassured him with a confident smile.

"Good luck." Musa gave her a thumbs up for more encouragement.

"Be careful!" Flora called out.

"Take care, all right!" Stella added, waving goodbye.

"Figure it out!" That was all I could think of saying to her, I did not tell the rest of the girls about my dream last night, if what I had seen was true, I didn't want them to be scared, and if I was wrong, I didn't want to unintentionally start a panic for nothing. All I had to do for now was watch Professor Palladium handle whatever situation may come.

"What kind of encouragement is that?" Stella asked me.

"The most logical kind." I answered her evenly, hiding the fact that Bloom might have to stop her midterm very quickly if my suspicions were correct, and it would not be in her control.

"Thanks girls, I'll see you!" Bloom called back, waving as she walked into the simulation room with her bag. We watched her walk onto the platform and lights turned on all around her. The light surrounded her and the platform moved out from underneath her feet. Suddenly a dark and abandoned place appeared in place of the chamber. Bloom began walking around, looking at her surroundings and then she began digging in her bag for something. I wasn't sure, but I think I saw Kiko hiding in the bag. Bloom had a surprised expression when she realized he was in there. He began hopping around as Bloom continued to dig through her bag, obviously she wasn't too distracted by her pet accompanying her. She kneeled down and sprinkled seeds on the ground, and buried them in the soil. We witnessed her place her hands on the mound of dirt and use her magic to make them grow, and as Bloom removed her hands, a tiny stem began to emerge from the ground. She seemed relieved that her magic had worked, knowing that she was from a non-magical world and her powers had been unused for years. From what I've seen, her powers were enhancing much more than mine, in quite an exponential rate to be honest. Watching Bloom for a few more seconds, the class saw a bright flash of purple light and unknown to Bloom, the wicked trio we all knew as the Trix appeared right behind her.

"Oh no, the Trix!" The girls and I gasped in unison. It all made sense to me now, the Trix must've cast the dark spell on the simulator control panel, and the dark virus would only be activated once the chamber was turned on. That's why Professor Palladium couldn't detect anything before we came.

"I knew I had a reason to trust my intuition from last night!" I shouted, it was the first time I really ever raised my voice, but this was something that must not be taken lightly.

"Tecna, I have to give you credit for coming to me as soon as you have this feeling," He acknowledged, "unfortunately I didn't have that much time to look into it thoroughly enough."

"You knew the Trix were going to be in the simulator and you didn't tell us!" Stella scolded me without a second thought.

"No, I didn't know what was going on, all I knew was that the simulator was being tempered with, I wasn't even sure if it was true or not." I protested defensively.

"Now, now, ladies," Palladium directed our attention towards him, "I'll try to get her out of there, but for now she'll have to manage things on her own. I have complete faith in Bloom that she is a very resourceful fairy." We saw Icy speak to Bloom behind her, but we couldn't hear anything from the simulation room. Bloom turned sharply around to see the wicked trio behind her, then when she saw them, she stood up to fight, however Darcy raised her hand, attacking her with some sort of dark wave.

"I could take her on." Musa hissed under her breath, I knew how much she wanted to considering she told us that she witnessed the witch of darkness and Riven at a downtown cafe on the day that she was ambushed. I knew she wanted Riven back, although she wouldn't admit it out loud. Bloom moved out of the way of the oncoming attack, flipping backwards and landing on one knee, she immediately turned around to face the Trix once again after gaining her composure. Looking just as determined as ever, there was a fierce look on her face as she she transformed. Seeing someone else transform without doing it myself was interesting, it only took a split second for Bloom to sprout fairy wings, and she shot a powerful fire blast at Darcy, who instantly fell backwards. As Kiko began imitating what had just happened, Icy and Stormy went to assist Darcy. The witches attacked over and over, one by one, Stormy used her magic to cause rain to pour down hard as Icy and Darcy continued to fire their own attacks at Bloom. Everyone gasped in horror, seeing was going on and not being able to do anything about it. Flora couldn't even bare to watch and covered her eyes.

"Oh my goodness!" I exclaimed as the rest of the girls gasped. Kiko was trying to shelter himself from the rain, and Bloom was now on the ground, she managed to sit up, however Stormy was standing right in front of her. Kiko began to hide behind a rock as Stormy conjured up more lightning, hitting Bloom with just one strike. She flew backward, fortunately she was able react quickly and fly back up in the air. Bloom began chasing Stormy with her fire attack, though, behind her, Icy began to freeze her from the feet up. In seconds she was half frozen, and the ice coffin fell with enormous impact, causing the ground beneath it to crack down the middle under the weight.

"Professor, you have to do something, Bloom is in serious trouble!" Stella pleaded desperately.

"I'm trying the best I can Stella, I'm trying to figure out how those witches managed to get into the simulation." The professor explained while typing in code after code at the controls.

"I can use my magic to connect with the computer again," I offered hastily, "it could tell us more about what happened."

"Tecna, you are just a fairy apprentice right now," Palladium regretted to tell me, looking up briefly from the controls, "your powers aren't strong enough to analyze the technology of an operating system this size. One day your magic will develop beyond your wildest dreams, you're making great strides, as are the rest of you young fairies. But this is a very dangerous situation that must be handled delicately so as not to put harm to anyone, especially Bloom." As we continued to watch helplessly, our redhead friend was trapped in the ice, trying furiously to struggle free, Icy and Stormy surround her, Stormy filling the sky with purple lightening, and the ground underneath Bloom began to crack open, and underneath was a river of hot lava. The ground gave way every second, leaving the ice Bloom was trapped in almost ready to fall. Suddenly she placed her hand on the ice using her magic to break free and destroy her cold prison. She fell safely to the ground and looked up at Icy, it looked like she was shouting at the ice witch, she must've been absolutely furious by now. Seconds of conversation between Bloom and Icy passed before Icy motioned to Bloom where the location of her pet rabbit was. As Icy turned, we were horrified to see Kiko tremble in fright on top of a precarious looking ledge that led deep down into the lava below.

"Kiko!" The Winx and I shouted in unison.

"Oh the poor thing!" Flora cried out with terror, "Those witches just cannot hurt him!" She just could not watch anymore and averted her eyes away from the screen. And just in moments' time,

Icy shot Kiko down into the lava as we gasped with complete horror and disgust. Bloom flew from her spot on the ground, trying desperately to reach out for him, but it was too late, Bloom was on the edge of the chasm, watching her beloved pet disappear into a horrifying demise.

"Oh poor Kiko," Musa thought silently, "Icy will pay for what she did!"

"Agreed." We answered her with solemn voices. Though, what we didn't expect was Bloom rising up from her position on her knees on the edge of the chasm and beginning to glow with a fiery power surrounding her entire body. She flew upward and unleashed an enormous amount of energy at the trio of witches. This was what I had missed out on when I was knocked out during the Trix' last attack in downtown Magix, this was the intense power everyone was talking about. It was something I had never seen before in my entire life. Just then I could sense a great amount of dark magic coming from the computer, the virus that was causing the mainframe to malfunction was at its peak of infection. I was terrified that this would happen, but I never thought one of my friends would be involved. The screen began to get distorted and fuzzy, and we couldn't be able to see Bloom at all, the class began panicking and shouting all at once before Palladium brought our attention back to him.

"Quite!" He called out, "I have to concentrate on the simulator."

"Professor, what's with the screen, we can't see a thing?" Stella shrieked as Professor Palladium tried everything he possibly could to try and get the controls to respond, though nothing was working, "Professor?"

"Tecna, what's happening?" Musa asked me with an extremely concerned voice.

"Looks like the computer's crashing." I regretted to tell Musa, there was an overwhelming sense of guilt that I knew this was happening and couldn't stop it, "Professor Palladium has everything under control." I was only trying to convince myself of that, honestly I wasn't even sure what to expect next.

"I'm trying everything I can, girls, but the computer isn't responding to anything I do." he explained to us, "We've got to bring her back, I'm going to have to use magic, I'll cast a restoration spell!" he placed his hands on the controls and called out his spell. When he released his hands, magic flowed into the computer. In seconds the simulator turned off, and Bloom was sitting there, and we were all relieved to see that Kiko was safely in her arms, unharmed.

"But... how can that be?" Professor Palladium was stunned. Everyone looked up to see her sitting on the platform in her casual attire, without a scratch.

"Bloom!" We shouted at once, Flora, Professor Palladium and Stella were the first to ran into the simulation room.

"Bloom, are you all right?" Flora asked her while she and Stella walked on the platform to greet her.

"Do you realize that you crashed the computer?" Stella asked her, it wasn't Bloom that caused the malfunction, it was the Trix, but it was better if I told her later.

"Really?" Bloom answered her with an astonished expression.

"You did, the simulator is totally gone," Palladium confirmed, "but you're okay, right?"

"I'm a bit shaken, but either than that, I'm fine." She reassured us.

"I'm postponing the exams, first we've got to fix things up," Palladium announced, "then we'll

reschedule the exams." When he announced this, the rest of the class and I came running into the simulation room cheering. I must admit I was happy that the exams were being postponed, it gave me more time to study.

"Ladies, three cheers for Bloom!" Stella shouted happily.

"Hip, hip hooray!" The class cheered repeatedly as we ran toward Bloom, lifting her in the air and catching her in our grasp in a big circle.

"Oh, and uh, Bloom?" Stella asked her, "By the way, do you think you can get the history exam postponed too?"

"Well.., I can try." Bloom laughed as she was being thrown in the air and caught by the rest of the class as we repeatedly cheered. Even though the tests were postponed, I was amazed to see Bloom's power reach it's fullest levels, and I too learned something about my own powers over technology. I also learned to let things go in others' hands, Professior Palladium knew what he was doing this entire time, and still allowed Bloom to complete her midterm before anything went awry. Thinking back on the events of this afternoon, it got my attention that the Trix were beginning to target Bloom for her new incredible powers, this was something I didn't expect when I first came to Alfea, for one of my friends to become so powerful that she herself didn't know how to deal with it. It was definitely going to get more and more adventurous with every turn.

* * *

After dealing with a midterm in another class, school was out for the day, and I took the time to do a little more studying for the midterms I had left to take. Suddenly my pager beeped, and hologram of Damian appeared before me.

"Hey Tecna, I'm.., really sorry about acting so rude the last time I talked to you, I was just in a hurry." He began, it was no logical excuse for his behaviour, however I only let it go.

"It's okay." I assured him reluctantly as he continued talking.

"Listen, I hope you can come over to Red Fountain because I need your help with this.., uh, thing." He went on, "My computer is continuously telling me something about a virus and my files are being deleted. Do you know anything about that.., well yeah, stupid question, of course you do, you're from Zenith. What I meant to ask is if you are available to help me?" I rolled my eyes at his assumption that just because I was from Zenith, I knew everything about computers and technology, yes it was generally the case, but I had no doubt in my mind that others had much more advanced knowledge than I ever did.

"Fine, my major simulator midterm just got postponed until further notice. I have plenty of time now." I informed him, "I'll be over in approximately fifteen minutes." We ended our conversation and I took a few extra gadgets from my desk drawer before walking out.

* * *

This was the first time I ever went on Red Fountain's grounds any further than the battle arena where Sky and Brandon did their training, I didn't even see Timmy anywhere, or any of the other boys for that matter. Damian told me he would escort me to his dorm if we met out in front of the school, and just as expected, he was standing there in his black leather jacket and rugged denim jeans.

"Hey, there you are, my dorm is up this way." I followed him up multiple flights of stairs to the boys' dormitories, I didn't even bother looking for Sky or the others, but I wouldn't be surprised if I crossed their path while I was here. Once I entered Damian's room, I immediately was taken back by how unkempt it was, clothes, books, DVDs and CDs were scattered around the floor, and the overwhelming scent of his cologne hit me quite abruptly.

"You really need to clean up in here." I breathed, and he suddenly glared at me, but just as quickly retracted his reaction.

"Yeah, sorry about the mess, been too busy studying for my own midterms." He replied nonchalantly, falling down onto his desk chair and turning on his desktop computer. I browsed the screen for a couple minutes before a warning message popped up in the corner.

"I have a question for you," I began, "do you have any anti-virus software installed on your computer?"

"Anti-virus software, you know I don't know anything about that complicated technical crap, that's why I have you." He answered me, a little rudely than I expected, but again I let it slide.

"Well, because you don't have it installed, your computer has a serious virus that is slowly destroying all your important data files. These files are crucial components that help your computer function properly." I continued to explain, hoping that some of it would sink in.

"Okay, spare me the complex details and show me what I need to do." Damian sighed with slight irritation, and I took a disk from my bag.

"I brought my own anti-virus software, I can install it on your computer and set it up, but first this thing needs a complete cleanup." I told him, and sat down beside him, searching for his Cd drive. As I put the disk in, a window opened prompting me for permission to do a scan. I accepted and turned back to face the dark green haired Specialist.

"So, now what?" He inquired impatiently.

"This might take a while." I warned him just as irritably as he was showing towards me, but I held my irritation on an even level, "based on the amount of files affected, the scan with take longer."

"And then what do you do?" He asked.

"Then there's the cleaning process, first the software searches for affected files, then cleans them out of the operating system." I continued to explain, luckily the process only took five minutes to complete. I was absolutely shocked to see how many files had been affected by the virus, and he should consider himself lucky he called me in time before he had to get a brand new computer, everything would have been gone. Once the cleaning process was completed, I set up the anti-virus software on his computer, and activated it.

"Now if the software tells you it needs to be updated, don't leave it until the last minute when your computer is vulnerable to attacks again, that's what this software does is keep these things away. That's why it's so important to have." I concluded, finishing up what I was doing.

"Thank you," he mumbled, "that's why I have you, you know all this technical crap."

"I'm starting to think that's all you ever need me for, technical support." I admitted hesitantly.

"Well, are you looking for a relationship or something?" He shrugged, leaning back in his desk chair as I gathered my belongings. The question took me by surprise, the last thing I was interested in was a relationship.

"No, but a little more than being your go-to tech support woman would be good."

"How about this, you keep helping me out with your technical knowledge, and I won't make your life a living Oblivion." I sensed this was blackmail, and I wondered how in the Magical Dimension he was planning to achieve this?

"And how are you going to do that?" I shot back, surprising defensive comIng from myself.

"I get around, I have connections in very.., questionable places, so if you don't want to be humiliated like that pathetic doormat Timothy Windez, I suggest you keep your mouth shut." I froze in mid action. I had never had a threat directed at me before, ever by Dr. Tonson and his colleagues, so I had no idea what to do. I said nothing after that, and only grabbed my bag. Did he manage to embarrass Timmy before, or was he just referring to what Riven did at the back to school gala? Something in me felt slightly off as I left his dorm in silence, but I shrugged it away, all I had to do was continue helping him and he won't humiliate me, it sounded like a fair deal. Though I couldn't help but ponder why he'd want to humiliate me in the first place. Walking back down to the outside of the school, I stayed just as silent as I was leaving Damian's room. I thought it was best not to say anything at all and just go with what he told me to do. Despite being a little rude, bad tempered, inpatient and having the computer knowledge of a four year old, I tried my best to defend myself only for it to fail miserably.

* * *

I stared up at the ceiling for what felt like hours while laying on my bed, it wasn't just the day's events that caused my mind to race, it was how innocently helping someone with his computer could turn into being threatened with blackmail. After a while I turned my head and spotted the video game that Timmy lent me, I left it on my computer desk but never got a chance to play it due to all the studying I had to do. Staring at it, all I could remember is what Damian said about Timmy. It didn't change my opinion of him by any means, but because Timmy was a friend, Damian's words seemed to affect me more than they would have otherwise. I grimaced at the words that were said to me, and Musa noticed the pained expression on my face.

"Is everything okay, Tecna?" She asked with a hint of hesitation.

"Yeah, just thinking about what happened today." I half lied, I suppose it wasn't technically a lie, because I was thinking about what happened, but she thought I was referring to Bloom's midterm. I didn't dare mention anything about Damian to anybody, because based on what he told me, he was very influential. He looked like he could easily beat many other Specialists in a fist fight, and I could only imagine what types of things he tried on Alfea fairies, or even Cloudtower witches. He did say his connections were questionable, which made my head go places I never thought it would. Musa brought me back to the situation with Bloom and the simulator before I could think about it anymore.

"You told Professor Palladium what you saw last night, and that's all you could do." She tried to reassure me, "He had everything under control when the computer started crashing."

"I'm just confused about why everyone says that Bloom's power caused the malfunction, I saw it with my own subconscious that one of the Trix had cast a dark spell on the control panel, installing a virus. What's the harm in telling Bloom the truth?" I continued, almost relieved that Musa had rerouted my train of thought. I wasn't sure why everyone else agreed that it was Bloom who crashed the simulator, because if the virus wasn't installed in the first place, her immense power probably wouldn't have done anything.

"I would just let it go, Tecna," she advised, "the important thing is that no one got hurt and that the virus was spotted before it did happen." Hearing those words, I got off my bed, walking towards my desk and picking up the game lying there beside me ladybug scanner. Now that I had some free time, I was able to play the game, to see if it was as interesting as Timmy had described it as to me. Once I got the hang of playing it, advancing through level after level, I was going to tell him about what I thought of it, and ask him for help if I needed it. After playing for about a half hour, I paused the game and sent Timmy a quick message, thanking him and telling him I was completely enthralled in it. Seconds later, I received a response, which I didn't expect.

 **Timmy:** Glad you like the game, Tecna, I knew you'd be interested. Maybe we can try multi-player some time.

 **Tecna:** That would be good, I finally had time to play since my simulator midterm was postponed due to technical difficulties.

 **Timmy:** What happened?

 **Tecna:** The Trix cast a spell on the controls of the simulation chamber and I'm suspecting they are targeting Bloom now that she has unleashed her untapped power. I seen it while she was in the simulator and it was beyond anything I've ever witnessed.

 **Timmy:** So you think the Trix will strike again?

 **Tecna:** I don't know when or how but I know they'll never give up, considering who they are and how powerful Bloom could be. They are power hungry witches after all.

 **Timmy:** You know if you Winx ever need our help, just let us know.

 **Tecna:** I'm sure that Stella would be more than willing to ask for protection from her prince. Lol

After a few more messages back and forth, Timmy and I ended the conversation and I resumed playing the game until I ran into a bit of trouble, I was looking for tutorials online and managed to get very far in the game. Timmy told me his was quite further ahead and if I wanted I could play until I caught up to him. It did take my mind off Damian's threat, until the thought completely vanished.

 **Timmy's Point of View**

After being told that the three witches we previously encountered were after the redhead girl from Earth, I knew that could put Tecna in much more danger than the average Alfea student. Remembering how easily she was knocked out made me realize just how hard my job of preventing her from getting hurt was going to be. I bet General Tyler didn't expect that my assigned fairy would be involved in something like this. Though we really didn't know what to expect when he signed me up for Tecna's case. I gave her the video game to have something for us to talk about, and a reason for me to see her face to face, though now that I have this extra piece of information, I would have to be even more vigilant with Tecna. If Bloom is in fact a target for Icy, Darcy and Stormy, than Tecna and the other Winx would more than likely be caught in between. When I was first assigned her case, I wanted to do some research on her history, relatives, childhood.., anything that would give me clues as to what I should be watching out for. However I saw absolutely nothing, for a technology fairy, she had no social media profiles, no online blogs, no gameplay videos that might indicate hints towards her personal life. It was like she didn't even exist on the online world. This lead to my only option of figuring these things out face to face, which I personally found much harder than doing it online. Though it was also a chance for me to improve and expand my social and my battle skills for personal benefit. Before having my first secret agent assignment, I found there was no reason for me to work on skills that I wasn't going to use in the future, I was quite confident being a behind the scenes strategist, using logic to plan out a solution to the problem and coming up with a backup plan if things didn't pan out the way they should. Though if I had a mission to prevent any harm from coming to Tecna, I would need all the help I could get. Now that I reminded her that she could call on us for help if the witches attacked again, and invited her to play the video game with me, I had more chances to see her, and keep an eye on her. Maybe I could secretly try to get her to reveal some crucial information that might help me on my mission, I would never stoop to the level of looking through her belongings for clues, that would be just undignified, and there would be no way she would ever trust me again if she caught me. I had my own methods of getting information, although I must admit that because this is a very attractive, intelligent woman just a year younger than I am, getting her to talk about it was going to be difficult considering my lack of social skills and nervousness. I didn't have a plan of action yet, but after our midterms and once break was over, I could ask Tecna to play the game with me, this would set things in motion. All these thoughts rushed through my head while I sat at my computer desk with textbooks and papers scattered everywhere while I was trying to study for my own midterms. Tecna's sudden messages didn't bother me, in fact it was reassuring to know that she was willing to call me back about the game and to know that she was doing okay. I needed to keep my focus on my main objective, becoming Tecna's friend was just an advantage in the whole process. But for now it was on her, and I just had to wait.

* * *

 **I'm sorry about Timmy's long spree of thoughts and no action, I just thought I'd give him a bit of room in this chapter and get inside his head after knowing Tecna might be caught in the rivalry between the Trix and Bloom. And what his next plans are to gain Tecna's friendship.**


	11. The Monster and the Willow

**Again this is more of a filler chapter than anything because Tecna was onscreen most of the time. Though I will say that seeing her become more emotional throughout the seasons, especially in this specific episode was nerve wrecking. Seeing Tecna panic when he friends are falling asleep, I could probably use that for a voice reference in the near future. Honestly I thought the scene with Elyssa was kinda pointless, but I wanted Tecna to be the type of person not to trust so easily especially considering her upbringing. Do you think the fact that Elyssa is too fascinated by Tecna is too creepy or too forward? Please let me know so I can fix it. Otherwise, enjoy the next chapter.**

 **Winx Club Episode Dialogue (c) Iginio Straffi And Rainbow S.r.l**

* * *

 **Chapter Eleven: The Monster and the Willow**

Now that the Winx and I had the extra time to study for our simulator midterm, most of us took this to our advantage. Even though Bloom passed her exam, she didn't hesitate to spend time assisting us to prepare. Flora was especially enthusiastic about passing the exam, and early a few mornings after Bloom's mishap in the simulation chamber, I heard the nature fairy knock on my bedroom door. Musa stepped out of the room momentarily, so I was alone. I turned around to acknowledge her.

"Hey Flora, how is your studying coming along, do you want me to quiz you later on this afternoon?" I asked her.

"No, thanks Tecna, but I've been doing a few experiments with some plant species, but I need a specific environment for one of them to thrive. I need a dark and confined space, it's the best thing for this type of plant." She explained.

"All right," I agreed without hesitation, "it sounds harmless enough." So, Flora placed a small pot in the back of my closet and shut the door.

"Is there anything I need to do for you?" I inquired, "I'd rather not destroy your plants by accident."

"Don't worry about it, Tecna," She reassured me with a genuine smile, "I'll just come in each day and water it, and the rest happens on its own. Thank you for your help." I acknowledged her thanks as she left my bedroom.

* * *

The next morning, I was using the spare time I had to prepare for my own simulator midterm, I was going to choose the first option that Professor Palladium gave us. Flora came in to water the seeds that she asked me to keep in my closet, though what I didn't count of was those seeds were growing frantically within twenty four hours. I got dressed, but as I was about to put on a pair of my purple trousers with green stripes, I realized that they had shrunk the last time I washed them, so I had no choice but to dig in my closet for another pair. While I was looking in the dark, something suddenly grabbed me by the waist and dragged me in, wrapping itself around my body, tying me up so I couldn't escape. I wasn't able to see what exactly was slowly taking me hostage, and before I knew it, I was completely trapped. I tried yelling for help, unfortunately they were cut short when whatever had captured me wrapped itself around my mouth and continued to tangle me up. Thankfully I managed to put on the new pair of pants before being held captive. By now, I couldn't move, I couldn't even kick the door to get anybody's attention, how long would I be in here before anybody noticed? About half an hour later, I heard Musa come back in the room, I could tell it was her because of the way her footsteps sounded and the fact that I could hear her humming a tune while she passed my closet. I tried making some noise, which came out very muffled, and apparently Musa couldn't even hear me, and she had sonar hearing. I attempted to cry out louder, but after a few minutes I gave up. It felt like forever before I heard someone else come in our bedroom.

"Hi Musa, have you seen Tecna?" I heard Flora ask. When I get out of this closet she is not going to hear the end of this. She never even told me what the plants were that she put in my closet, or even warned me about things to look for that were out of the ordinary.

"No, haven't seen her since this morning." Musa answered the nature fairy immediately after she inquired about where I was.

"Are you guys having any _trouble_ with my plants?" Flora continued to inquire, she sounded like she was getting closer, but then distant again. Am I ever having trouble with Flora's plants, they are keeping me hostage in my own closet! By now I could feel the vines digging deeper into my arms and around me, a number of unsettling things crossed my mind while I wondered what these plants would want from me.

"Huh, what do you mean, we have plants in our room?" Musa's response was quizzical, it was strange that Flora didn't ask Musa's permission to use our room for plant storage, but only asked me. I didn't tell Musa because I was under the impression that the seeds were harmless and wouldn't grow at an exponential rate within just a day! I'm

"Yes, I asked Tecna to keep a few seeds in the dark inside her closet." Flora clarified, finally I was able to see light as she opened up the door. Now I could call as loud as possible and she could finally hear me, "Tecna?" I continued moaning loudly in anger while she used her magic to make the plant release me.

"It's about time," I shouted with great irritation, now able to move out of my restraints and get myself free by opening the second closet door, "I was just looking for a pair of trousers, when this creepy crawly thing grabbed me!" By this time, Bloom and Stella entered the room as well. They must have heard all the noise that was going on in here.

"Musa, she was in there all day and you didn't notice a thing!" Stella began to scold her.

"I'm not in the habit of snooping in other people's closets!" Musa answered the Solarian princess, and I appreciated my roommate's respect for my privacy. Although this would've been the one exception where I would have forgiven her for it.

"Okay, I'll keep my cool, but I'd really like to know what kind of seeds they were." I told Flora as I rubbed my wrist, because of the position I was tied up in, the plant had my right wrist tied a bit tight.

"Uh, they were... um... triple Ss." Flora hesitated.

"Triple Ss?" I was now infuriated, what did that stand for, what did that mean? I had no idea what species of plant that was, and for her not to give me any information about what she was keeping in my closet, and for me to find out this way, I had never been this furious. I had wasted the entire morning being tied up in my closet because of her plants!

"Sequoia Sepralifeous Swifta." Flora quivered, her voice getting quieter as she spoke.

"What?" I finally lost it, as little as I knew about plants, I knew that those species were known to grab whoever disturbed their darkness and keep them there until they had lost their nutrients, it was their source of food while in their natural environment. Luckily was no where near that state, those plants could have completed sucked the life right out of me!

"I didn't think they would grow so fast, I swear to you, I had no idea!" Flora pleaded for my forgiveness, falling to her knees waving her arms in her air in protest. She sounded like she was about to cry.

"All right, Tecna, don't go bananas, take a deep breath..," this was a simple calming exercise that Flora herself taught us not too long ago, it was ironic that she would be the one I'd lose my cool on, "now let's remain calm."

"Oh Tecna, I'm so sorry." Flora continued to beg as I sat on my bed, taking my comb and beginning to brush my hair from the tangled mess it had most likely turned into while I was tied up.

"It's all well and good, Flora, but I think that.., those killer string beans have got to go." Stella piped in, obviously she too had an incident involving Flora's plants.

"You're right, I'll come and get everything in a sec, then I'll take myself and my stuff over to Black Mud Swamp." Flora agreed sadly as she got up to leave the room.

"Black Mud Swamp?" Bloom asked her with a hint of concern in her voice.

"The rooms at Alfea are not suited for my experiments." Flora clarified after turning to the rest of us while continuing to leave.

"But you can't move to the swamp, we all know the place is horrible." Bloom protested, "We don't want you to go there. Right.., girls? Is that a yes or a no?" I didn't really want Flora to go to Black Mud Swamp alone, but if it meant her plants would not be holding me captive in my own closet, then I didn't mind if she just did her experiments there. Before we even opened our mouths, the door closed and Flora was gone.

"Ugh, I don't believe this!" Bloom sighed, " Flora was just trying to prepare for her big exam!"

"Bloom, we all have to study," says the only one of us who couldn't be bothered to actually study, Stella, "but when we study, we don't tear up _her clothes.._!"

"Nor do we try to strangle her." I added, still with irritation in my voice.

"Oh, come on girls, don't be so hard on her." Bloom insisted, "Flora's exam is coming up soon and.., anyway I.., well I promised Flora I was going to help her, and where I come from, promises are kept, all right!" And she left to follow Flora out to Black Mud Swamp. As the door slammed, we gasped in surprise.

"I think Bloom has a point." Musa sighed after moments of complete silence.

"I think so too," I admitted, "I am mad at Flora for not telling me what kind of plants she was keeping in my closet, and being tied up and potentially killed by them. Though I also know that she would help us study, no matter what."

"Let's go find them." Stella suggested as we all left the bedroom that Musa and I shared. We finally caught up to Bloom as she was talking to Flora while she was packing, and Stella knocked on the door.

"Hey Flora, we're sorry we freaked out on you, you were only trying to do your experiments and study for the big simulator test." She began.

"Yeah, and we want to help you out, I know you'd do the same for us." Musa added.

"So, as much as I personally don't want to do this, we'd like to go to Black Mud Swamp as a team and help you get what you need for the exam." I concluded.

"That would be so great girls!" Flora cheered, "thank you very much."

* * *

We all helped Flora pack her things and head out towards a nice spot by the river in the Black Mud Swamp. After setting up her equipment, we took a break, Flora was looking in her bag for a book that she brought with her, the book was filled with information about all different types of plant and flower species that she needed for her experiments.

"I still can't believe it," She replied cheerfully, "I never thought you'd have followed me here."

"Yeah, me neither." Stella groaned sarcastically, lifting up her muddy feet, only Stella would wear platform shoes to a swamp expedition.

"The truth is, we couldn't let you come here by yourself." Musa admitted, she was sitting patiently on a rock with Kiko standing beside her.

"They may be a bit grumpy sometimes, but they care about you." Bloom began before she was immediately interrupted by Stella.

"Anyway, I hope this camping trip doesn't last too long." the Solarian princess stated with a hint of annoyance in her tone.

"If you all help me find this magic flower, it won't last long at all," Flora informed us, taking out her book of all the flowers that exited in the Magical Dimension, " See, this is the Cheerful Gladiolas." She opened her book to a page that she marked with a purple ribbon, and we saw a picture of a remarkable flower.

"That's a pretty flower," Stella commented, "but are you sure it can be found around here?"

"Absolutely, the ecosystem of this swamp is quite diversified." Flora answered.

"And what do you need it for, exactly?" Musa continued to inquire for the rest of us.

"The essence of the Cheerful Gladiolas is an antidote for the witches' sadness spell." Flora told us with a proud and joyous laugh.

"Very well then, what are we waiting for?" The Princess of Solaria urged the rest of our group, "Let's go and get the flower so we can get back."

"It's not as easy as that," Flora warned us while she put her book back in her bag, "it's a very skittish flower, it doesn't let itself be picked."

"Don't tell me we're going to have to coax it into following us of its own free will." Stella sighed, "I've had it with walking plants."

"Actually, we just have to ask the flower to extend one of its petals," Flora explained, taking out a flower shaped container with and opening it, "and then I'll use a drop of this mixture, one of my inventions, and.., check this out." Flora squeezed a sample on a random leaf, and it fell to the ground. Kiko looked down at the pink puddle on the ground, and as he watched closely, grass magically sprouted upward from the ground and took him by surprise.

"That was fast." Musa remarked after we saw what just happened.

"I can create an infinite number of artificial petals." Flora concluded as she put the lid back on the container.

"This is great, let's get to work right away," Bloom announced with excitement before turning towards her pet bunny, "Kiko, you stay right here okay, the swamp is not a good place for you to walk about."

"Can I stay too, I won't wander off, I promise?" Stella begged, "Cross my heart."

"Stella, please, don't start complaining already." Musa huffed as we began walking further away from the campsite.

"Who's complaining, I was just asking a simple question?" Stella replied innocently, "Then we'll go right back to Alfea right?"

"Stella!" We all shouted in unison.

* * *

It wasn't long before Stella begin to complain about her shoes, she definitely should have worn something that was more practical than platforms. However, despite her objections, she still continued walking on until she finally had enough of stepping in all the mud.

"Oh no, why oh why are swamps so...?" Stella whined, not being able to think of anything to finish her statement until Musa piped in.

"Swampy?" The music fairy continued for her in a joking manner.

"Your comments are uncalled for, Musa." Stella groaned, wipping the mud from her shoe with a cloth.

"So is your outfit, for goodness sake, this is a muddy swamp not a fashion show." Musa pointed out.

"What does that have to do with anything?" Stella shot back irritably, "A Winx is always a Winx and-" Just then, she lost her balance and fell in the mud.

"Stella?" Flora called as we all gasped, turning around after we noticed that she fell.

"She's over there!" Musa called while we began running towards her through the long grasses and shrubs of the swamp.

"Stella, are you okay?" Bloom asked her best friend, she was sitting next to a tree, completely covered in dirt.

"No, I'm not okay," She complained while getting up off the dirty ground, "I'm tired and dirty and my feet are killing me from all that walking about, If only we'd find these stupid flowers." Sudden Flora gasped, I noticed she had spotted something nearby.

"Hush, quiet." She warned Stella softly.

"No, I refuse to be quiet!" Stella protested, "You said we'd find them and all-" before Stella could continue, Flora covered her mouth with her hand and the princess just mumbled through her hand.

"Look Stella," Flora whispered, "there, on the water." We turned to look at the lake we were walking beside, and we watched as two small creatures were swimming, laughing and playing around the lily pads.

"Wow, they're so beautiful." Bloom whispered as we continued to watch them play.

"Yes, and they're so tiny." Musa observed, but just seconds later, Stella bit down on Flora's fingers causing her to shriek and startle the little creatures of the lake.

"Ground walkers, let's go, quick!" one of them cried out in fear as the began flying away into the water to hide.

"No, no, no," Flora protested, "wait, wait, please, we don't want to hurt you, we're your friends, and.., we need your help." In a few seconds the two creatures began to slowly come out of their hiding place.

"Oh, all right then," one of the two creatures hesitated, "are you sure that you do not wish to bring harm to us?"

"Oh, no, all we want is a simple favour from you and we'll be on our way." Bloom reassured them.

"Well, if you are telling the truth that you won't hurt us, and you really need our help, our nymph village is over in that direction." The second nymph told us, pointing to our right in the far clearing of the lake.

"Thank you so much." Flora called as we began to follow the two nymphs to the location of their village. As we walked, Flora began exploring the exciting wonderland of plants near the water that created the miniature nymph village.

"What an amazing place, I mean look at all the flowers. The lilies and gladioli, the water nymphs were right to bring us here, I'm sure we'll be able to find what we're looking for." She began, sniffing the flowers as Stella gasped in surprise, "What is it Stella, a cat got your tongue or what?"

"Look down there, in the water..." Stella stammered, and when we looked, we could see bubbles and numerous nymphs swimming around. That must've been the nymphs' village, surrounded by all the plants around the lake.

"It's a miniature city!" Bloom proclaimed, trying to be quiet so we wouldn't frighten the nymphs.

"Fascinating, the water nymphs live in air bubbles under the leaf of a water lily." Flora explained to us. One of the nymphs popped its head out from the water and grabbed on to a close by lily pad.

"We don't mean to be rude or anything but uh.., we have a bit of a problem." She began softly, "See, we can't really invite you into house, you're kind of big, we have no room."

"But our queen has expressed the wish to meet you," the other nymph continued, "follow us." The two nymphs began swimming ahead to lead us to their queen, who was sitting on top of a throne made out of leaves.

"We are very happy to have you here." She began, "You see, we don't often receive visitors."

"Thank you for your warm welcome your..." Stella began before turning to Bloom in order to whisper in her ear, "Think I should say Your Littleness instead of Your Highness?"

"Majesty, try Your Majesty." Bloom advised quietly in response.

"You must've had a very long journey, you all look a bit tired." the nymph queen replied, "may I offer you some refreshments?"

"Actually, all we really want is to touch the petal of a Cheerful Gladiolas, may we?" Flora asked.

"Of course you may, I can tell you have a lot of respect for nature." The queen answered her happily.

"But... it seems almost incredible that nobody's ever met you before." The fairy from Lynphea thought.

"We keep a low profile, we know when to hide when we need to." She explained, "And then if so few creatures ever come around here, there must be a reason."

"Perhaps you've heard of something called The Great Monster of Black Island?" the nymph on her left asked us nervously.

"What, a monster lives around here?" Bloom inquired, it came as a surprise to us because this place was so peaceful and serene, it was hard to believe that anything bad could happen here.

"Yes, quite unfortunately, if you look over that way, right behind the Fog Bank, you'll see an island right in the middle of the swamp, and in a deep, underwater cave under the island, is where that horrible creature lives." The nymph queen specified, "It's a gigantic evil being which threatens my people daily."

"Why don't you move somewhere else?" Bloom wondered.

"Because our survival depends on a plant called Zillith, and it can only be found on that island," The queen informed her, "with great patience and more effort, we're able to make a strong and transparent type of material."

"That's what we use to manufacture the bubbles in which we live." the nymph on the queen's left added, "without the Zillith we'd have to live above water where predators await, but the Black Island monster makes it very difficult to gather Zillith leaves."

"Every once in a while, one of us volunteers to go to the island and try to pickat least one leaf, and this time it was Lusiz' turn." Suddenly the nymph sitting on the queen's left began sobbing, and turned to the queen for consolation.

"Why, what's wrong, what happened to Lusiz?" Bloom queried as our faces become stricken with worry and concern.

"She never came back." The queen answered as Bloom gasped in horror.

"That's terrible." Flora remarked sadly.

"It's our destiny, we've been living like this for quite some time." The queen informed us with a grim expression on her face.

"Well, I say its high time things changed," Bloom declared with great determination as the queen looked puzzled about what we were planning to do next, "You ready girls?"

"Ready when you are, Bloom!" Flora answered, and on cue, we began to transform, I observed that we were transforming a lot more often. It was a great opportunity to use my powers and practice flying in real situations. I also knew for a fact that I was going to take a long break from plants after this little adventure, I'd had enough and I couldn't wait to hear the low, steady hum of a computer modem again. It was like total and complete bliss to my ears, along with the sound of my fingers tapping at the keyboard and the click of the mouse every now and again. Those, of course, were the sounds that put me at ease and in a state of relaxation that I told the girls never to break me from when I was buried in the sensation of happiness that I could only achieve at my computer desk. Once everyone had finish transforming into their Magic Winx forms, we stood there, waiting for approval from the nymph queen.

"Marvellous!" she replied with great relief once she realized that we were fairies, and we were going to help put a step to the constant threat that loomed over the nymphs.

* * *

We started our decent toward the island, across the foggy swamp. There were many unique and strange things about our surroundings, I had noticed an owl with three eyes, it was very uncommon as far as I knew. Suddenly, Stella turned to the rest of us with a look of fear.

"Did you hear something?" She quivered nervously. Musa and I were flying right next to her, but we didn't here a thing, and Musa had sonar hearing.

"No I didn't." I answered while we continued flying towards the island.

"You know girls, I was just thinking..., the queen said that the monster was gigantic but to her we're big too, so if we average things out, the monster must be a medium sized creature, right?" Stella proposed as Musa and I looked at her, watching behind her, "It makes sense." Our surroundings began to get dark, and we turned around to see what the queen might have described as the monster's head emerge from the water. Unfortunately Stella's guess about the size of the monster was far from accurate, it was as gigantic as the nymph queen warned us it would be. We gasped slightly as the monster's head inched closer towards the Solarian princess.

"What is it, what?" She asked, when we all turned around, screaming while we tried to avoid the monster's head as it went back into the water. We all huddled back to back, just to make sure we were all present.

"Maybe, uh... maybe it's gone." Flora thought fearfully, unfortunately she was wrong. The monster's head suddenly popped up from the water yet again, however we all managed to get out of the way, that is except for Musa.

"Oh no!" She called, she looked like she was trapped, and we turned back to see if we could get her away from it, but we couldn't.

"No!" Bloom shouted as we all yelled in horror, and suddenly the monster opened its huge mouth taking Musa with one big swoop and then, it sunk back down into the water. The rest of us huddled above the surface after watching the horrific scene. Stella immediately acted by impulse, shooting a blast of her magic towards the surface of the water, but instead of the monster's head, a small fish floated up to the top of the water.

"Oopsie." Stella gasped, noticing that she'd actually killed the fish with her powers.

"Where did it go?" Bloom wondered after we waited a few more seconds for anything to happen..

"Great." Bloom sighed when we huddled up back to back once more.

"Now what?" Stella inquired.

"There's only one thing to do," I told them seriously with fierce determination, "we've got to rescue Musa."

"Yes," Bloom agreed, "but how, water is not our element?"

"We could use the air bubble method just like the water nymphs do." Flora suggested as we continued looking down at the surface of the lake.

"Sounds like a good idea to me," Bloom encouraged her, "are you ready?"

"You bet!" We all answered in complete unison before simultaneously creating individual air bubbles for each of us to help us breath under water.

"And now for the final touch, Locks Luminous!" I shouted, snapping my fingers to make a light appear with my powers so that we could be able to see down in the water. Then we instantly dived down to search for Musa, once we were deep enough, I looked over to Bloom, "Can you see anything?"

"Down there, right at the bottom!" Flora called out, and with my light, we were able to see the head of the creature, hiding in the seaweed. However the head slowly moved away from view and we couldn't see it anymore.

"It went into its cave." Stella told us as we began swimming towards where the monster had been.

"Let's go!" Bloom urged as we went closer, and when we could see the monster's head again, we could see Musa unconscious in its mouth. When we swam right in front of it, it began to close its mouth, but before it could, Bloom managed to swim right in and grab Musa. However the monster closed its mouth before Bloom could get her out. Stella shrieked and the rest of us gasped with concern, thinking that the monster was going to swallow both Bloom and Musa whole. Although in just seconds its eyes began to glow, and magic sparkles emerged from out of the monster's nose. Bloom suddenly reappeared with Musa carried in her arms, still in the air bubble as the monster's eyes reopened. The use of magic within the monster's mouth had disturbed it, it growled ferociously, resulting in making the cave surrounding us to begin to rumble. Bloom was able to swim away with Musa before then, but all the movements brought Musa from unconsciousness.

"What's going on?" The music fairy questioned wearily as debris began to fall from the cave walls.

"We got to get out of here, now!" Flora shouted, there was no hesitation as we swam for the surface of the water. Once we hit air again, our bubbles popped, and we landed on the bank. As soon as I landed, I could sense that something was definitely off, something about the air in this particular area was different but I couldn't put my finger on it right that second.

"That was too close for comfort." Stella breathed once she landed on solid ground and the rest of us landed, catching our breaths.

"Where in the world are we?" Flora thought, "I've never been here before."

"I don't know, but we're probably on the island." Bloom observed while she took in our surroundings.

"If that's the case," I concluded, "then we should definitely keep our eyes opened."

"Why, the monster's gone right?" Stella asked with a big, unexpected yawn, "There's nothing to be afraid of."

"The monster isn't gone, he's just retreated back into his cave." I clarified for her as I began walking further onto the island while Musa began to follow me.

"Flora, do you know what sort of trees these are?" Bloom inquired as she touched the trunk of a tree that the entire island seemed to be populated with, they were everywhere.

"Um, they.., they look like Red Willows." Flora answered, letting out a yawn of her own.

"My, all my yawning is contagious." Stella yawned once again, I began to notice that both girls were starting to get extremely tired, even I was beginning to get a little drowsy, though I had a method to keep from looking fatigued when I didn't want to be.

"Looks like they were planted in a specific manner." I pointed out to Flora as we began following the path created by the way the Red Willows grew.

"That's typical of this trees, they grow in a spiral shape around their leader." Flora explained.

"These trees have a leader?" Stella asked with a slight giggle, "That's funny."

"It's as if they're positioned in such a way as to take us to their leader." Bloom concluded as we continued walking slowly, even she was beginning to yawn. Now I could sense that something was absolutely wrong in the air, I just didn't know the details of it yet. However it may have something to do with why Flora, Stella and now Bloom were yawning so much.

"What a beautiful place, isn't it?" Stella sighed tiredly, stretching her arms out with the little enthusiasm she had left in her.

"It's very quiet." I thought, "hear the birds?"

"Actually I don't" Stella answered my question with a very tired sounding yawn.

"Exactly, and don't you think that's strange?" I continued to inquire, though I had a feeling I wasn't going to get much observation out of my Solarian friend, especially if she was too tired to think.

"No, it doesn't seem very strange to me." she replied.

"My, what a wonderful smell." Flora finally pointed out, there was a very sweet floral scent in the air when I noticed that something was wrong, however I knew the scent was common for nature, so I didn't give it a second thought until now.

"I detect it," I told them worriedly, "I better analyze its composition." Instantly I used my magic to create an analyzation centre around me, and I began typing wildly at its keys. All the data I have gathered was beginning to fit into place, and I could be able to see a connection. The sweet scent in the air was what was causing us to feel extremely fatigued.

"No, it can't be," I gasped as I realized what exactly was in the air around us, "this substance is sleeping gas! Girls, girls!" I turned around and the analyzation centre disappeared, Stella was one of the first to stop and take a nap, unfortunately it would last longer that she'd want.

"Yes, and those moss covered rocks are just like.., comfy pillows.., umm so soft." She mumbled slowly, drifting off to sleep. I started panicking, I was the only person there who know about the sleeping gas in the air, and all of my friends were falling asleep. If they all fell asleep, I had no idea what to do after they all were out.

"Stella, don't breathe, don't breathe," I started to freak out and turned on the air mask feature of my helmet so I didn't have to be breathe in the air myself, "no, wake up... Stella, don't close your eyes!"

"All right, set the alarm for seven." Stella groaned, I was definitely unable to get her to snap out of it, she was too far gone. Then I turned around, to see almost everyone else was falling asleep.

"Flora, Musa, oh no, wake up!" I shouted frantically, "Don't let yourselves fall asleep, please!"Honestly I didn't know what I was going to do alone, how was I going to get rid of this gas and wake up my friends? I finally realized why Lusiz hadn't come back from getting the Zillith leaf, she had fallen asleep on the way there, or, if not that, had been eaten by the monster. Hopefully it was the first of the two conclusions.

"Aw come on, Tecna, were so tired." Musa complained before shutting her eyes.

"Yeah, leave us alone." Flora piped in quietly before doing the same.

"Tecna!" I heard Bloom call, she was the only one besides me who was left standing.

"Bloom!" I shouted, running over to my red haired friend.

"I've got to.., must stay awake." Bloom mumbled, she finally collapsed backwards before I caught her in my grasp, "Look over there, Tecna, I.., I think it's the leader tree... The one Flora was talking about..., look at the meadow, animals are all sleeping... and over there, under the willow, it must be little Lusiz." That was all she could muster before finally falling asleep in my friendly grasp.

"Bloom!" I called asshe shut her eyes.

"Sorry, Tecna.., I..." Bloom murmured before she actually fell asleep. I laid her down on the ground comfortably, thinking for a moment before I knew exactly what I needed to do.

"I'll create an oxygen bubble." I said out loud, waving my hand above me as the dome materialized and formed down around Bloom and I, "I'll make a little opening, and let the bad air out." In seconds of my little procedure, Bloom began waking up, because I could hear her groan beside me.

"Thanks Tecna." She replied happily, I was slightly engaged in what I was doing that I didn't notice that she got up so quickly.

"Bloom, welcome back from the Dreamland." I replied gratefully, helping her to her feet within my dome.

"It's the willow, that deadly oder," Bloom told me as we both starred at it, "it comes from the willow."

"Well, then, let's get to work." I suggested as we both used our powers to make my oxygen bubble get larger and cover at least the centre of the island where we were. The birds began to wake up as all the sleeping gas escaped through the opening of the top of the dome. I looked over my shoulder to see Musa, Stella and Flora wake up, yawn and stretch.

"Well, I... where am I?" Musa asked after a stretch, "What happened?"

"Umm, turn off the light." Stella groaned, still half asleep, her comment about the light was kind of ironic considering she was the fairy of the sun and moon, "The alarm hasn't gone off yet." Just then, when she opened her eyes, she could see a tiny insect crawl up her arm, and she screamed.

"Get this thing off of me!" She panicked, "Quick, somebody do something!"

"Stella relax, it's just an innocent little insect." Musa reassured her while Flora couldn't help but laugh uncontrollably.

"Ah, disgusting!" Stella continued to scream, running out from the trees to try and shake the insect off her arm.

"Well, it worked," I replied with a smile, watching Stella hysterically run around trying to get the bug off, "sounds like everyone's wide awake."

"Yes, and not just them, look." Bloom pointed out, " All the animals are waking up." The birds that were sleeping around the leader tree were flying freely in the sky now that they were awake as well.

"We're back with you girls!" Musa announced once she, Flora and Stella walked over to us.

"Great, help us make this oxygen bubble a bit bigger." I instructed as all of us used our magic to make the bubble grow. It was now covering a portion of the leader willow tree, and the little nymph, Lusiz, who was sleeping there finally woke up. Once we knew our oxygen bubble was effective enough, we went to her, and Bloom bent down over to look at the small water nymph.

"You're Lusiz, right?" Bloom inquired.

"Yes, and I know who you are," Lusiz began, "I could never thank you enough for waking me up."

"But, how do you know how we are?" Bloom continued to ask.

"All the while I was sleeping, I remained in constant telepathic contact with the world around me." Lusiz explained, standing up, "So I knew you were coming." Suddenly we could feel a giant rumbling underneath our feet.

"The monster!" Musa shouted.

"No, no, it's not what you think, the monster isn't coming here," Lusiz told us, "he's already here." As she explained this, I kneeled down in front of her beside Bloom.

"Sorry, I don't follow." Bloom admitted, she didn't understand what Lusiz meant and neither did the rest of us.

"Let me explain, as we speak, we're all standing on top of the monster. As I told you, while I was asleep, I kept a mental contact with this place, and that's how I found out the truth. The island is actually a giant sleeping and sleepwalking turtle, all thanks to the Red Willow tree." She advised us.

"And the monster in the cave is nothing more than a turtle's head getting in and out of its shell." Bloom added.

"And the rumbling we just heard must've been the turtle trying to move about in the swamp." I concluded.

"If what you say is true, it means we've woken him up at last." Stella guessed.

"No, unfortunately your magic dome covers only a little section of his enormous shell," Lusiz clarified, "poor thing's walking in it's sleep and it's been doing so for eons."

"The protective barrier will vanish when we leave, and then, things will get back as they were before." I informed the rest of the girls. Suddenly the willow began to growl loudly, "What the... watch out!" We jumped out of the way as the willow began waving it's branches wildly.

"Oh my, it's gone crazy!" Lusiz cried out, suddenly the tree's branches broke the oxygen dome that we had created.

"Why you bully, I'll turn you into a bonsai, that'll teach you to pick on creatures that are smaller than you!" Bloom shouted furiously, then she shot her fire magic toward the lead Red Willow tree, however it used it's branches to block the attack. Then she realized what it's weakness was. "Of course, the roots, that's what I've got to strike, underground!" So Bloom blasted the willow tree once again, this time she hit the base of the tree. It began burning from the ground up, and it was stuck in place. Despite the fact that Flora hated to see plants suffering, she knew that the Red Willow was doing more harm to it's surroundings than good. So, Flora used her magic, and blasted the burnt tree. With her magic, she made it vanish, it was completely gone and magic butterflies surrounded the area.

"We did it!" Flora declared joyfully while giving Bloom a hug.

"Yes, we freed the turtle from the spell." her redhead friend agreed.

"It's another victory for the Winx!" Stella cheered with her fists in the air.

"The air is pure again," Lusiz sighed, taking in a breath, "do you hear that lovely sound?"

"It's the sound of the birds singing," Stella replied, "I can hear it this time."

"No, my friend, I'm talking about a much louder sound." Lusiz corrected Stella, "The sound ofnature awakening." It was true, the birds were finally flying, and I could imagine Flora could sense the feeling of nature's renewal.

* * *

We flew back to the main land with Lusiz, and the rest of the nymphs were overjoyed to see their friend home safe and sound, and the Winx and I had another audience with the nymph queen.

"How could we ever thank you enough?" The queen began while one of the other nymphs was sharing a hug of great relief with Lusizo, "You brought back our dear Lusiz, and freed us from a source of fear and anxiety."

"Oh and by the way, the monster... or should I say, the turtle... Uh, what's going to happen to it now?" Stella asked.

"Look over there, in the swamp." The queen added, pointing in the direction of the turtle as it finally departed from this part of Black Mud Swamp.

"Hey, it's moving," Stella cheered, "granted it's no speed boat, but it's moving."

"The creature is free now, and so it's following the path that life has laid out." The queen continued.

"But what are you going to do now?" Bloom asked, "You said the Zillith plant grows only on the turtle's shell?"

"Before it went away, the turtle let us collect as many as we could, we'll be okay for a while, we tried growing the Zillith in our soil but it doesn't work, unfortunately." The nymph queen told us sadly .

"Sooner or later we'll bound to one out of leaves." Lusiz added.

"If it's Mother Nature's will, so be it." the queen concluded.

"Hang on a second, even Mother Nature can use a friendly little boost sometimes." Flora reassured the nymphs as I noticed her dig in her bag once again.

"Flora, what are you looking for?" I asked her.

"My rapid growth formula, remember my magic drops?" she answered, "Watch this, Your Majesty." Flora dropped a bit of her formula on to one of the Zillith leaves, and in seconds the leaf multiplied into dozens and dozens more, which would last the water nymphs a very long time.

"Marvellous!" The queen replied happily.

"Oh yay!" One of the other nymphs cheered as they all began swimming joyously around the throne in a great celebration.

"Way to go Flora!" Stella encouraged our nature loving friend.

"Excellent." I added with a smile on my face, I could tell Flora felt good saving the nymphs from losing their most valuable resource.

"Now, are you going to let her use your rooms for her little experiments?" Bloom pressed, with all that was going on, I completely forgot what got us out here in the first place. I suppose I owed it to Flora to help her out, it was only until exams were done, and of course what happened this morning was only an accident. She did say she didn't know the plants were going to grow so fast, it was out of her hands.

"Well, I..." Stella began, trying to debate rather she should continue letting Flora use her room for it's good quality sunlight. Then I cleared my throat to ease the tension building within Stella while she decided.

"In light of what just happened, I guess we should reconsider the option." I told everyone hesitantly.

"Ah, never-mind girls, from now on I promise to make do with the space that I've got." Flora reassured us, putting each hand around our shoulders.

"Ladies, we could never thank you enough for all that you've done for us," the queen continued, "but as a token of our deep gratitude, we'd like to offer you this, Flora." Just then, a flower appeared before us and the nymphs, it was the flower Flora wanted for her cure for the witches' sadness spell.

"The Cheerful Gladiolas!" Flora exclaimed in surprise.

"It let itself be picked just for you." The queen told Flora as she gathered it in her grasp, "It knows you well treat it well."

"As soon as I get home, I'll put it in the richest soil." Flora promised, carefully standing up with the flower in her hands.

"That's great, Flora, now you're sure to ace your exam as usual." Bloom replied encouragingly.

"Thanks Bloom, and tomorrow is your turn, isn't it Stella?" Flora asked, and as soon as she mentioned it, the Princess of Solaria's face turned soar.

"Oh no." She sighed after a surprised gasp, and as friends, we all began laughing. Flora promised that once the nymphs ran low on Zillith leaves, they could come to Alfea and she would help resupply them so that they would never run out and have to migrate to another swamp.

* * *

When I returned back from Black Mud Swamp, I happened to bump into Elyssa on the quad of Alfea, it looked like she was hard at work with her nose in her textbook and her scribbler on her lap.

"Hey Tecna, what have you been up to besides completely dominating epicness." She asked, and just as quickly she lost me. I could never understand her way of speaking, it was like a totally different language sometimes. I just looked at her puzzled before she just laughed, "I just meant that you're awesome, I mean all those electronic gadgets you have and your powers over technology are amazing. I know I have powers that come from electricity but your magic can go much further than that."

"You barely know me through a hole in the wall." I pointed out.

"I know all that I need to determine how cool I think you are." Elyssa told me, and this was definitely a first for me, I've never been considered cool, or awesome, or epic for that matter, I didn't even know what that last one means, "So I heard your friend Bloom got caught in the simulation chamber when it malfunctioned, could you tell if it was going to do that or have your powers not developed that much yet?"

"Actually I could, unfortunately I didn't have any control over what happened in the simulator." I signed, "Professor Palladium told me I'm still a freshman and I couldn't be able to handle it. But the most important thing is that everyone is safe and the simulation chamber will be repaired by the end of the week so the rest of us can resume our midterms."

"That's the right idea Tecna, sometimes things are out of our control, but we just have to trust that it'll be okay in the end." Elyssa reassured me as we sat there lazily on the lush green grass. After a moment of staring silently, I turned to her again.

"So, how is your next performance coming along?" I wondered.

"Everything's pretty much done, I just bragged my agent to put the gig on hold until after exams so I can have full concentration on school." She told me, "Usually it's not very easy to get him to agree with something, but he said since everyone is doing exams anyway, their might not be much of a turn out if I had it during exams. Plus it'll be like a celebration before semester break, am I right?"

"Yes, that does make more sense," I agreed, the date was set for the Friday we had off for semester break, and hopefully there will be a huge audience for the reveal of her new image. Elyssa told me that I've inspired her to be free and expressing herself as a fairy, I still couldn't wrap my head around why that is, but my appearance and magic powers are definitely Intriguing to her, and she continued to reassure me that nothing dangerous would happen when we were at the night club she booked for the event. Though she also said that if I felt uncomfortable, she would instantly take me back to Alfea, that I could trust her with, some unexplained feeling told me I could trust her, it was illogical, and I was deeply skeptical. I didn't want to get myself in trouble either, I didn't have a reason not to trust her, but I never trusted anyone before, Ms. Faragonda was the first person I ever trusted, and that situation was kind of sprung on me, if I could trust the rest of the Winx now, maybe Elyssa was no different. Though, there is one thing I will never reveal to anyone, it would be too humiliating and life threatening, my life before Alfea, as Dr. Tonson's lab experiment.


	12. Miss Magix

**Oui! Fanfiction was giving me so much grief with trying to upload this chapter. I have never had difficulty uploading chapters for The Secrets before and now I just keep losing network connection every time I try. I think it has something to do with the size of the amount of words I'm trying to upload but I haven't had any issues with it before, it's odd. Luckily I was able to upload this chapter by other means without having to re-edit or re-write anything.**

 **As I mentioned on DA, the original story had Tecna passing her midterm with full marks, but I thought it'd be more realistic for her to experience a sense of humiliation and not have everything come so easy to her.**

 **I also wanted to mention that if you've noticed, and even if you haven't, there has not been that much of mature themes such as language or sexual content since chapter ten. F** **or these past few chapters, since most events were on screen, I found it unnecessary for the context of the chapters.**

 **Winx Club Episode Dialogue (c) Iginio Straffi And Rainbow S.r.l**

* * *

 **Chapter Twelve: Miss Magix**

After a week, the Winx and I were back in Professor Palladium's class in the auditorium, at least most of us had attended. The Princess of Solaria hadn't shown up for classes in numerous days, and she had some serious catching up to do, especially now that we were finishing up midterms.. We sat at the bleachers as a group and waited for the class to settle before Professor Palladium began his class. He told us yesterday that he would start this class with a special announcement.

"Everybody, I am glad to say that the simulator is up and running again after Bloom's mishap." He began after everyone was quiet, "If I'm not mistaken, there are still several students who must take the test, Flora, Musa, Tecna, Stella, also Pricilla, Ortencia and Luna. I hope you're all ready."

"Now I wish I could make myself disappear." I turned my head to hear one other student complain to her group of friends from the other set of bleachers.

"Me too, exams make me incredibly nervous." One of her friends agreed.

"I don't think it's such a difficult exam," a third student piped in, "it's more like an exercise,

except that we get a grade. You'll see, it'll be okay."

"Easy for you to say," the first student j,of replied, "you're always studying. The rest of us

though..." As the three girls' conversation ended abruptly, I focused my attention back to the professor,

"I see that Stella has a few failures to make up for," Professor Palladium continued, "but she's not with us today. Could it be an evasive action?"

"She wasn't feeling well this morning, Professor." Bloom informed Palladium, "She told me... uh... that she was going to stop by the infirmary. Maybe she'll come later."

"I hope that whatever she has is not too serious." Professor Palladium answered her as he opened

the door to the control room of the simulator, "However, when you do see her, tell her that I'm

waiting, she's late on many assignments." I could tell by the tone in his voice that he wasn't buying what Bloom had told him, truth be told, we had no idea where the Princess of Solaria was. About fifteen minutes later, Flora volunteered to take her exam first, and walked up onto the platform in the simulator. I was next, and then it was Musa's turn, since Stella was absent.

"Well, then, Flora, which of the two missions have you chosen?" Professor Palladium asked her

from the control room while she looked up confidently at him through the window.

"I'll use magic to fight off one of the most terrible affects of the witches' power, sadness." The

nature loving fairy explained.

"Good."

"I've been preparing for this in the Black Mud Swamp, and now I'm ready." Flora continued, her proud smile fixed on her face.

"Excellent, all right then, ready to begin?" Palladium prompted Flora as we saw her nod her head in response, "Remember, maximum concentration and remain calm." And with his final instruction, the lights went down, and the simulator lit up, and three evil witches appeared in front of Flora. She stared them squarely in the eyes like nothing I had ever seen from her in my life. I've always known Flora to be such a gentle and kind fairy, but I suppose witches' evil magic can bring out even the worst of any of us. She took out a potion that she spent days concocting with the essence of the Cheerful Gladiolus, and used her powers over nature to turn a sample of it into a dust like substance. The holographic witches were ready to attack Flora with their sadness spell, when she transformed and braced herself for the impact, then deflected the spell with her dust. As the dust sprinkled over her, she was immune to the witches' sadness spell, making it easier for her to defeat them. She concluded her exam by demonstrating how she could beat her opponent using her non-violent means of defence. Once she was finished, the lights in the simulator went down, and the platform revealed itself right underneath Flora's feet. She was standing perfectly fine on the platform, unharmed and smiling triumphantly.

"Excellent work, Flora, you passed." Professor Palladium was pleased to inform her as she walked back into the control room to join the rest of us.

"Thank you, Professor." Flora cheered as the we came to greet her.

"And next we have.., Tecna." Palladium instructed, and I stepped forward to finally take my test. It was long overdue, and I was getting anxious waiting for the day when the simulator would be working again. I took a deep breath in as I reviewed in my head everything I studied the past month, "So, what test are you going to take, Tecna?"

"I was planning on using my magic to revert fairies back to their normal state after being turnedinto inanimate objects." I explained.

"Wonderful, many tragic accidents have happened to fairies who have been turned into objects and no one has known a counter-spell. It would be nice to finally perfect an antidote." Professor Palladium replied. I was ready, but what I hoped for most of all, was that my unexplained weakness wouldn't get in the way, and that I wouldn't end up being turned into a calculator for the rest of my life... the thought made me shudder. I took another deep breath before walking with Palladium to the simulator room. There was no question about why he was escorting me rather than having me go in alone, the rest of the class stayed silent. In the back of my mind it made me wonder if they were questioning anything at all. Professor Palladium and I were now alone on the simulator's platform, and he had a concerned expression on his face

"I need to have a word with you before your simulator test." The tone in his voice was serious, and the way he looked at me told me exactly what he was going to say, "Ms Faragonda has warned me about your limitations in battle and against opponents, if I feel that something is wrong that could put you in danger, I will spare no hesitation to bring you back here."

"But what about-?" I began to protest, but he stopped me mid sentence.

"Your grade won't be affected, if you can't do it, you just can't do it. There is nothing we can do about that." Professor Palladium told me, and something inside me wanted to fight back. I couldn't explain it, the feeling washed over me and coursed through my veins. This was exactly what I didn't want to happen when I came to Alfea, I wanted to be treated like everyone else, I did not want any easy way out. The feeling was still fresh, but all my logical sense told me it was not that best decision to release this emotion, at least not at this moment.

"With all due respect, Professor Palladium, I want to be able to earn my grade just like the rest of the class, I don't think it's fair that I would get a passing mark without putting in the same effort as everyone else. All I want from my experience here at Alfea is to be treated like an average fairy, despite my limits." I emphasized with an even tone.

"We'll just see how your exam goes before we discuss this any further," Professor Palladium reassured me, "we do take your feelings into consideration, after all this is your education we are talking about." What did my feelings have to do with this, this was a matter of equity, respect and dignity, there should be no emotions involved. However there was no more need to argue, I was wasting time anyway, so I just accepted what he had to say.

"Thank you, Professor." I sighed as he walked back towards the control room and I remained standing on to the platform.

"Are your ready?" He asked me once I saw him at the controls, and just like Flora, I nodded in response. In minutes the lights in the simulator room went down, and I was surrounded by yellow. Just like when I witnessed Flora take her test, a couple of witches appeared in front ofme. Out of pure anxiety, I transformed into my Magic Winx form, and put up a shield.

"Okay, Tecna, keep calm. You can do this, you studied for this." I reminded myself, trying to steady my breathing. I focused on the two witches staring me down, and they suddenly attacked with an inanimate object spell. I jumped out of the way, and conjured up all the energy I possibly could. During the month of preparation I spent many hours perfecting a counter-spell for this attack, and I memorized it by heart before now. As soon as the witches sent another attack in my direction, I counteract it instantly. However, one of the witches managed to hit my leg, and it began to magically transform into a table's leg. As the transformation was taking affect, I couldn't feel any circulation in my leg at all and I was starting to panic. Though in seconds, logic set in, and I concentrated reviewing all that I studied. I gathered more magic energy in my hands and shot it at my inanimate leg, hoping that my antidote would work successfully. Luckily it instantly started to reverse the witches' magic, and my leg was back to normal. Watching me succeed in foiling their plans, the expression on the witches' faces looked absolutely furious. I had no idea what they were planning to do to me now that they knew I could beat their inanimate object spell. Out of impulse, I flew up in the air, and trapped them one of my Static Spheres, and was ready to deliver the final strike. What I didn't expect was for the witches to immediately break my barrier and fly up to meet me. Before I could react, they hit me from behind and I landed on the ground, drifting into unconsciousness like I had multiple times before.

* * *

I opened my eyes to see Professor Palladium looking down at me, once I regained full awareness I realized I was back on the simulator platform and the teacher was staring at me with extreme worry written all over his face. None of the other girls were with him while he was crouched beside me in the open room.

"What happened?" I inquired groggily, sitting up slowly as Palladium helped me to my feet.

"Well, you were able to successfully reverse the effects of the witches' inanimate object spell, which I will give you full marks for that. However you were not able to successfully defeat them, which I'm afraid, is the most important part of this midterm. As much as I hate to tell you this, Tecna.., your grade won't be as high as you were hoping. You still passed though, so please don't put yourself down." He explained regretfully. My biggest fear for this exam had instantly come true, that my unexplained weakness would prevent me from performing at my best. Letting this knowledge sink in for a moment, I began to feel humiliated and embarrassed. Did anyone else see what happened? Were the rest of the girls worried about me? How could I not put myself down when I felt completely inadequate? I stayed silent as Professor Palladium took me to the door of the control room, and I joined the rest of my class.

"Tecna, are you okay?" Flora pressed once I was in their field of vision, "We saw everything." That was exactly what I didn't want to know, but knowing that now, I just let out a sigh of complete humiliation.

"If you don't mind, Flora.., I don't want to talk about it." I insisted in a low voice, and she nodded in acceptance as we faced the screen to watch the other remaining students take their midterm.

* * *

After Musa and the other three girls went to take their midterms, and we finished our other classes, the school day was over. Flora, Musa and I walked into the apartment, while Bloom went to see if Stella was at the infirmary. I didn't feel much like talking to anyone, and grabbed one of my few books from my bedroom. Only rarely would you see me reading anything that wasn't electronic, my textbooks were the only reading material that was from a book.., except for these few things. When I returned to the common room, I sat beside Musa on the couch. She was relaxing with her legs propped up on the armrest, and Flora sat in the chair opposite to us, filing her nails. The room was completely silent, but it wasn't long until Bloom entered, and she instantly had our attention. The look on her face told us that she was not too pleased with the outcome of her search for Stella.

"You guys know the latest?" She asked us as Flora paused in the middle of nail filing, "Stella didn't go to the infirmary today, so it's not true that she was feeling ill. In other words, she decided to skip Palladium's class."

"Huh, I wonder why she's acting like this?" Flora pondered, "The test wasn't even that difficult."

"We all aced it," Musa agreed, "what is she afraid of anyway?"

"Running away won't get her anywhere," I replied, "sooner or later she's going to have to take the simulator test."

"What's happened to her anyway?" Bloom thought as she began to head towards Stella's bedroom, "She wasn't in the garden, nor was she at the library. I was hoping to find her here with her nose in a book." As her thoughts drifted off, she opened Stella's door to see if the Solarian princess was there. The rest of us looked at each other, thinking that was exactly were Stella was hiding. We heard distant conversation from the room, proving that our estimation of where the overactive blonde sun fairy was.

"I knew Stella was in her room, it would be the perfect hiding place to skip classes." Flora huffed after a minute of listening to the muffled conversation from the other room. Then she walked over to see what Bloom and Stella were talking about. I heard Flora say something about Stella's clothes before she went into the room, that could only mean one thing, Stella was buried in her fashion obsession once again. Musa and I were the only ones in the common room by now, and I was beginning to get curious as to what their conversation was about. After seconds of waiting, I decided to head toward the princess's big bedroom. When I could hear them talking more clearly, Stella was mentioning something about... a beauty contest?

"Miss Magix contest?" Bloom inquired while I was still eavesdropping outside of Stella's bedroom.

"Yes, it's an annual thing to determine the most beautiful and talented girl in the Magix realm." Stella explained, "Last year I came really close to winning, but this year I intend to do better!"

"That is ridiculous!" I protested, entering the room after hearing what Stella had been doing the entire time. She and Flora turned in my direction once they heard me, "Stella, how could you consider a beauty contest more important than school?"

"Please don't let me down," Stella begged as I folded my arms in total disagreement, "I really need your support, this is incredibly important to me. What can I do to make you feel sorry for me? Help me, and I promise you I'll study a whole lot." By the time Stella was finished with her pleading, she had flung her arms around Bloom desperately.

"You should study for yourself, not for us!" Musa argued, joining us in Stella's bedroom, "We've already done the exam you know!" Stella stopped hugging Bloom and started walking away from us, whimpering like a child. Was she serious, did she actually think that whining was going to get us to give in? Musa, Flora and I were not amused.

"Ah.., all right but this is the last time, okay." Bloom sighed with deep irritation. I suppose it didn't take a lot for her to do whatever her best friend wanted, and sure enough, the rest of us would have to go along with it.

"Oh thank you, I'm so happy!" Stella cheered, "You'll see, it's just an innocent little beauty contest, it'll be fun." It may be fun for her, but after the humiliation of not getting the grade I expected just because I was such a weak fairy.., I just didn't want to deal with anything else. Musa gave Bloom a questionable look, but Bloom just innocently motioned with her hands that there would be no harm in letting Stella do this.

"Well, that will be a first, every time we go into town, we never have fun." I replied as I noticed a light blue sleeveless top. I placed it over my chest to see if it would look any good on me. It was all right.

"True, we always run into those nasty witches." Flora agreed.

"Relax, I know from well informed sources that we won't meet the infamous trio." Stella reassured us as I stared long and hard at her with my hands on my hips.

"If you say so, Stella." Musa sighed.

"All right then, what do you need to get ready?" Bloom asked Stella as we began to spend the rest of the day preparing her routine. The Miss Magix pageant was that night, so we didn't have that much time.

* * *

That night, we walked up to the Magix Stadium where the beauty pageant was being held, the place was huge, and could be seen from down the street. Numerous people were moving hastily into the building to either sign in to the pageant as contestants, or to get their seats. Flora walked ahead of us a few steps only to come to a hesitant conclusion.

"Hmm, I already know how this is going to end." She began worriedly.

"Let me guess," I answered, "mmm, in a total flop."

"Don't be such a wet blanket," Stella replied as she continued walking up the stairs, "Griselda will never know we came here." The Solarian princess ran up ahead into the stadium as Musa and the rest of us followed. Once we entered the enormous building, we saw a man behind a desk who was taking attendance for the contestants.

"Name please." He asked Stella.

"Princess Stella of Solaria," She announced confidently, "I signed up two weeks ago."

"Right, you are contestant number six. Your dressing room is down that corridor, it has your number on it. The pageant starts in an hour, do be ready by then or you will be disqualified." The man behind the desk explained to us before we went to find Stella's dressing room.

"Oh, don't you worry, I came very well prepared to take the Miss Magix crown," Stella assured him, "thanks to my good friends." We walked down the hall, looking at all the doors until we came across Stella's, we immediately opened the door and magically transported all the clothes Stella needed to the racks on the walls of the room. Then, Bloom and I sat down on two chairs by Stella's vanity.

"Now girls, I want to make a big entrance, you all know that." Stella began.

"Yes, we all know how much of an impression you want to make on the judges, Stella." Musa replied with slight irritation. She didn't want to be here as much as I didn't. I wasn't too concerned about being spotted, because I intended to stay well hidden, and my roommate's were with me. Everything else was on Stella, if she got us caught, she would have to do all the explanations.

"So, I'm thinking of wearing something else than the other girls, that way everyone will be sure to notice me!" the Solarian princess continued as she used her magic to change into a pink top with green sleeves and a lavender skirt, "How about this?"

"Stella, you have to wear the same outfit as everybody else." Bloom reminded her.

"That's the rule." I added, Musa and Flora were out of the room getting more things, and they returned with some sort of floral skin cream.

"Stella," Flora called, "we've brought everything you need to win."

"Starting with soft and relaxing music," Musa magically turned on the stereo that was on Stella's vanity, "to allow the face muscle to loosen up."

"And then it's oil of arabatola and leaves of ranko ficus." Flora added, walking towards Stella while mixing the concoction in a flower shaped container.

"What ever means of torture you deem appropriate as long as I become the new Miss Magix." Stella made an easy chair appear in front of the vanity and sat down in it, sighing deeply.

"You will have the smoothest skin in the whole dimension." Flora applied blush to Stella's heek.

"And your hair will be like gold silk." Musa added as she began taking a small strand of Stella's long blonde hair in a curler.

"Oh the things I must bear." Stella sighed dramatically. Suddenly heard high-pitched sobbing coming from the hallway. Musa put Stella's hair in curlers as Bloom opened the door so we could see what was going on. We peaked our heads out to overhear the conversation two other fairies were having not too far away.

"What am I going to do now?" One of the girls asked in sobs.

"I'm sure we'll find a solution." The girl's friend reassured her. Bloom went out of Stella's dressing room as the rest of us watched from the door.

"What's happened that's so terrible?" Bloom inquired, interrupting the two girls.

"A catastrophe." The sobbing girl's good friend answered her question.

"Look what happened to my hair." The girl cried in a high-pitched voice, "Normally it's straight, I was just walking down the hall when.., poof, my whole head of hair puffed up just like that." Then she began sobbing once again. Bloom reached out and bounced her fingertips on the girl's hair, causing her to burst into fresh tears and let out a cry. Bloom just gasped as we watched from the door.

"What is that?" Stella gasped, Bloom just face-palmed as the girl began running down the corridor in tears. She ran past us as we gasped once more. Bloom followed her around the corner, and in a couple minutes she returned and walked back toward Stella's dressing room.

"How is she?" Flora asked kindly.

"I have a feeling I know who messed up that girl's hair." Bloom concluded.

"Why am I not surprised, the Trix." Musa guessed.

"You're right Musa, and now that we know they're here, we have to keep our eyes open ." Bloom told us, "Who knows why they're here and what they'll do to sabotage the pageant."

"What did I tell you, whenever we come to Magix, we always see those witches." Flora sighed, sitting down at one of the chairs beside Stella.

"And I had a feeling this wasn't going to turn out very good either." I added.

"Oh, come on girls, we've dealt with those three before, this is nothing new." Stella reassured us.

"I'm usually the one doing all the 'dealing' with the Trix, Stella, so you just worry about winning Miss Magix, we'll watch for them." Bloom told her as we continued to get her ready for the pageant.

* * *

About forty minutes later, Stella was ready for the contest, and we were backstage. We could hear the host announce that the pageant was ready to begin.

"Ladies and gentlemen, a warm and magic welcome to this year's edition of the one and only Miss Magix pageant! Tonight, fifteen beautiful young women will battle for the title!" He announced, "We all know the rule, no magic, all curses and spells are strictly prohibited, and will lead to disqualification! This contest is a celebration of natural beauty, what could be more enchanting ladies and gentlemen? And now, here they are, number one, Miss Loni, followed by Miss Heidi, number three, Miss Lesta, number four, Miss Augine, number five, Miss Beara." I assumed Miss Bara was the girl whose hair was sabotaged, thankfully she managed to get it sorted out before the pageant started.

"Number six, Miss Stella, number seven, Miss Lehona, number eight, Miss Karen, number nine, Miss Sabitha, number ten, Miss Lucy..." As contestant number ten continued to follow the rest of the contestants on stage, the audience had an instant reaction, "Please, ladies and gentlemen."

"Wow, number ten looks really pretty." Flora whispered.

"Don't tell Stella that." Bloom whispered back.

"Number fourteen, Miss Neoxis, and number fifteen, Miss Nadia, a warm round of applause for all our contestants!" The pageant host continued introducing all the girls. They all went backstage once again to prepare for the talent competition. In minutes, we saw Stella walking towards us.

"You were wonderful, Stella." Bloom told her.

"Thanks Bloom, but did you hear the audience's reaction when number ten came out?" Stella asked in despair, "I'll never win."

"Stella, it's only a game." Bloom reminded her.

"Yeah, but where's the fun if I don't win?" Stella pouted. Suddenly, the contestant we just happened to be talking about came from offstage and walked passed us.

"Hey, congratulations, they like you a lot." Bloom told he, but she just shrugged and ran off, "What a strange reaction, mmm, there's something going on here." In the distance I could hear the final applause from the audience as the last of the contestants must've left the stage.

"The contestants must also be polite and show some class!" Stella shouted after Miss Lucy, only to realized she might be heard from on stage. A few seconds later, the talent contest was ready to start.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the first event of the evening is the talent competition." The host declared, "Each young woman will demonstrate her particular skills, beautiful and talented, ladies and gentlemen, please welcome contestant number five, Miss Heidi, and her talent is athletic Cubita!" Apparently, Athletic Cubita was a routine of acrobatics done jumping from different sized cubes.

"Hey, wasn't Miss Bara contestant number five?" Flora questioned quietly beside me, watching the talent competition unfold.

"I don't know, Flora, maybe there was a signing mix up, I hope Bara's okay though." Bloom answered in a whisper as we directed our attention back to the show. The cubes magically appeared around her, and she began with a starting pose, and jumped on to the tallest cube first, then jumped and landed on another, then flipped on to another. Then Miss Heidi amazed the crowd and landed with one hand. It was an incredible talent and at least they did have something to show each girl's inner strengths. As Miss Heidi concluded her performance, she landed on a mat, however the mat moved somehow, causing her to trip and fall offstage.

"That was strange," Bloom pondered, "the rules prohibit magic, yet I can sense it was being used on Heidi's mat."

"I don't think it was part of the act." Musa concluded.

"All right," The pageant host continued, "I guess we should move on. Uh, our next contestant is Miss Auguine." Miss Auguine was wearing a fur coat and a blue bathing suit underneath. I suppose she was just modelling it, though I wouldn't really consider that a talent. Suddenly we saw ice begin to materialize around her feet, and she ended up skating down the stage and around the audience.

"Two magic spells cast in a row," Bloom thought, "this is very odd."

"I think the Trix are involved." I piped in.

"I think so too, Tecna, but I don't want to tamper with the pageant just to foil them, there are too many people watching and it'll cause a scene." Bloom warned us.

"What about Stella?" Flora asked, "She wants to win the title of Miss Magix so bad."

"Despite what the witches are doing to these other contestants, maybe it'll teach her that studying will benefit her more in the long run." Bloom whispered, "On the other hand, I don't want anyone getting seriously hurt."

"And now our next victim.., um, I mean, next contestant, Miss Lesta and her Holo-claves!" Her act was juggling with holographic pins, it was difficult enough to juggle real pins, but juggling holographic ones was a true talent, with precision and accuracy, it took a lot to do it well. Miss Lesta impressed the audience when she threw her holographic pins in the air and did a backflip before catching them once again. The crowd went wild, and it looked like she was actually going to finish her act, but suddenly she lost control and the holographic pins hit her on the head. Despite being holographic, it really did look like it hurt when they fell on her. Lesta fell to the ground in a daze after being hit numerous times with her pins.

"Take her away, please." The host ordered two men after clearing his throat. Bloom was definitely right now that three acts have been sabotaged, something was off, "And now here is Miss Jenny." He announced as the two men took Miss Lesta away on a stretcher. Miss Jenny was supposed to do a singing performance, but after coughing and gagging, she was dragged offstage.

"Girls, look in the audience," Flora told us, "Bloom, you and Tecna were right, the Trix are there. laughing their butts off!"

"I knew it!" Bloom hissed, "They can't ruin this for Stella, or anyone else for that matter."

"I think it's a bit too late for that," I remarked, "they've already wrecked four talents so far."

"There is nothing I can do without making a scene, but I do think something must be done soon." Bloom replied.

"Do you think we should talk to the host?" Musa pondered.

"I don't know, I think it's the right thing to do, but I can't get his attention, we'll just have to wait." Bloom told us.

"Miss Lehona.., and her white doves!" The host announced nervously, the act was very short, as Miss Lehona ended up covered in bird poop, and was carried out on a stretcher as well.

"Miss Sabitha, and her..." The host was interrupted when Miss Sabitha's dogs chased her offstage, not even letting her preform her act, which I had no idea what she was going to do.

"Miss Neoxis, and her rings of..." The host continued, but as Miss Neoxis threw her rings in the air, all that happened was they ended up falling and trapping her within them. It reminded me of the time the Trix captured Stella and trapped her in rings that were going to squeeze her until she lost breath, thank goodness these rings didn't do that. We could see the Trix laughing as Miss Neoxis was carried away.

"Miss Karen..." She began a cheerleading act, but once she did a split, the stage beneath her collapsed, and there was a gaping hole where she once was.

"We will now take a short break before resuming the competition." The host told the crowd of people very nervously.

"Now's your chance, Bloom, you can get his attention when he walks backstage." Flora replied, and the host walked toward us.

"Excuse me sir." Bloom called out, and he immediately turned to face us.

"I really can't talk now, young lady, I'm in the middle of a pageant." He told her, gathering his breath.

"But it's important, someone in the audience is using magic to tamper with the talent performances!" Bloom called out the pageant host, and he stopped abruptly when he heard this.

"Who?" He asked.

"Do you see those three girls in the front who have been laughing the entire time?" Bloom inquired.

"Them, they're the ones doing this?"

"Is there anything you can do?" Musa asked him.

"Unfortunately, no, those three haven't proven that they are the ones causing the problem, I need proof before I can kick them out."

"But sir, we know those three, they're witches from Cloudtower and they've caused a lot of trouble in the past, you have to trust us on this." Flora insisted.

"Just because they've Cloudtower witches doesn't mean they're trouble all the time." The host advised us, "Now I have to continue this pageant, good bye girls" then he went back onstage.

"Well, it looks like it's up to us to prove that Icy, Darcy and Stormy are up to no good." Bloom sighed while we watched the host of the pageant went back onstage to continue the competition.

"Welcome back ladies and gentlemen, and now a performance from the great ballerina, Miss Lucy!" He announced and stepped back to let contestant number ten began to dance. She began her performance as she jumped and twirled on the stage. She concluded her act with a spin, holding her knee with both hands while her long dark blue hair wrapped around her. Then she looked up and turned her spinning position into a pirouette. Miss Lucy then stopped moments later with a big smile on her face, and everyone was blown away from her performance. The witches didn't do a thing. They were there for a reason, and I had a feeling Miss Lucy was involved.

"A magnificent performance from Miss Lucy!" The host continued as she took a bow, "Bravo, bravo! Now our next contestant, Miss Stella.., and the dance of happiness!" Stella appeared onstage in a cowgirl outfit, and she began dancing a very strange dance that I didn't know about before. She was laughing and enjoying the spotlight, when suddenly, a stage light covered in ice fell from the ceiling, only for Stella to move out of the way just in time.

"Phew, that was a close one." Flora gasped.

"I know, but I think Stella is trying to avoid getting hit," Bloom replied, " I have a feeling she knows the Trix are there too." Stella continued dancing as the floor began to form cracks underneath her feet, but she once again moved out of the way. The Trix became angry with every move Stella made, managing to avoid the obstacles they created.

"A few comments, please Miss Stella." The host asked her when she finished her dance, and her response was strange, the Trix must be doing this, but how could he not see that? "But of course, she can speak backwards!" And then, Stella smiled sheepishly.

"She said, 'absolutely, I'm very happy', we have here a truly gifted young woman." The host complimented, and we all cheered for her. She managed not to mess up her act even though Icy, Darcy and Stormy were trying to get her to.

* * *

The Miss Magix pageant was almost over, it was time for the final part, the judging.

"And now the moment we've all be waiting for," the host declared, "the coronation of this year's Miss Magix! How about a nice round of applause for all of our contestants!" Then he tore open the envelope containing the result of the competition.

"And this year's Miss Magix is.., Miss Lucy!" He finally announced, the Winx and I could tell Stella was fuming as Miss Lucy walked up from the line of contestants with the hugest smile on her face as confetti fell all around her and everyone cheered. Two other girls came up to Lucy, one placed the crown on her head, and the other put a sash around her waist. Just then, as everyone continued to cheer for Lucy, she transformed into a girl with dark green hair and a less attractive face. She gasped in horror as the audience began to boo her. The girl looked down at herself, and we saw the Trix leave the crowd. The humiliation caused Lucy to run offstage in tears.

"As a result, the title of Miss Magix goes to.., contestant number six, Stella, Princess of Solaria!" The pageant host declared.

"Number six, that's me!" The Solarian princess gasped in surprise.

"Congratulations Stella, you're the most beautiful young woman in the Magic Dimension." The host continued as he put the sash around her, and one of his assistants put the crown on Stella's head. I hope she was satisfied, she could've spent this time studying, instead, she wasted it winning this pointless contest.

"Thank you, no word can truly express my joy at this moment." Stella replied as she began to tear up.

"She did it," Flora cheered, "she won, let's celebrate!" Then she gathered me and the rest of us in a hug. Suddenly the host of the pageant walked up to us.

"Looks like I owe you girls an apology." He informed us, "You girls were right about those three witches. Turns out Miss Lucy was a Cloudtower witch who did use magic to alter her appearance."

"That's what I thought." Bloom replied.

"It's just a shame they left before I could kick them out." He continued.

"As long as no one wasn't seriously injured, everything is okay." Bloom assured him with a genuine smile.

"Thanks to you girls, we are banning those three from coming here again, so this does not happen next year." The pageant host told us. Once Stella caught up with us, we began congratulating her as we walked out. There were a ton of people waving and praising her for winning the title of Miss Magix.

"What an evening, I'm so happy!" Stella cheered, "We can't just go home now, this calls for a celebration! The night is still young and I know this perfect place-" I'd really rather just go home, take a warm shower and fall asleep happy that this whole pageant thing was over and nothing happened in the process. Stella was cut off when Bloom cleared her throat exasperatedly multiple times to get her attention.

"Bloom, do you have a sore throat?" the Solarian princess asked nonchalantly.

"Do you have a memory problem?" Bloom questioned harshly causing Stella to suddenly stop to think, "We had a deal, girl, after the contest, studies. You were supposed to study all night long."

* * *

The next afternoon in Professor Palladium's class, Stella came, but she was very tired, so she wore sunglasses to hide the bags under her eyes. She was complaining that no amount of makeup could cover them, and now that she was known as the most beautiful young woman in the Magic Dimension, she insisted she had a reputation to uphold. To that, I just shrugged.

"All right, let's take it up from where we left off yesterday." Professor Palladium began, "Stella, it's your turn if I'm not mistaken." So, Stella took off her glasses.

"Yes Professor." She sighed with exhaustion.

"Which of the two tests did you choose to do?" Palladium asked her.

"I'd like to continue what Bloom started." Stella told him.

"Very well," He said with a smile, and the princess of Solaria walked through the door to the simulation room. Once she was in the simulator, Palladium continued his instructions, "You will transform the desolate environment of Domino. Stella, I'm starting the test now." The lights went down, and she appeared right where Bloom was a week before. She looked around before sprinkling some seeds on the ground. Then she took a few potions from her utility belt. Stella took one out, looked at it, and with a yawn, popped the top of the vile. Knowing Stella, she might have been just so tired that she just wanted the exam to be over. She didn't really care about what she was doing, and dumped the entire potion onto the ground. That could only lead to the over growth of the plant life that she meant to start in the desolate environment. Then the princess of Solaria exhaustedly spread her arms out, causing rain to pour around her. After rubbing her eyes of sleep, she spread her arms out again, making the rain stop. A rainbow appeared in the sky and her plants began to grow, despite being tired she thought she was doing pretty well, but what she wasn't expecting was that the grass and trees that she planted were starting to grow at an excessive rate, the blonde gasped in horror and started to panic.

"Help, help!" She called as Professor Palladium began pressing buttons to turn the simulator off, Stella stood there dripping wet with leaves in her hair and clothes.

"Stella, are you all right?" The professor asked her.

"Yes Professor Palladium." Stella whimpered, I could tell she was not happy with the outcome of her test. After she cleaned up and the remaining girls that hadn't taken the exam finished, Stella stood in front of Professor Palladium's desk, looking ashamed of herself and humiliated.

"Stella, from what I've seen today, I'd say you really weren't prepared for the test. Am I right?" The professor asked her seriously.

"Yes Professor." Stella confessed sadly.

"As much as it breaks my heart to see my students fail, I can't help but give you an F, Stella." He regretted to inform her, "You didn't do the work. Now if you want to succeed, better set your shoulder to the wheel, and hurry. Because the longer you wait, the harder it'll be for you to catch up." As Professor Palladium continued, she return to her seat in front of me.

"You hear that, you can still do it," Bloom encouraged her cheerfully as Stella gave her a hug, "and anyway, right now the future doesn't look so bleak.., our vacation is about to start!" When Bloom reminded us about our vacation, we began cheering. I pretended to cheer for the rest of the Winx, because I couldn't go back to Zenith, it was too much of a risk, Ms. Faragonda told me that she wanted to speak with me in her office after classes today, and I had a feeling I know what she wanted to talk about.

* * *

After class, I went to the headmistress's office, opening the door slowly, I saw her with a file folder on her desk and numerous forms scattered everywhere. The expression on her face was extremely serious, and keeping that in mind, I hesitated to sit down.

"You.., uh, wanted to see me, Ms Faragonda?" I inquired softly.

"Yes, Tecna, a month ago I told you I had a court hearing to be appointed your legal guardian, remember." She prompted just as hesitantly, "the hearing date is next week and I just want you to be prepared." Next week, so soon? I sat there frozen in place, something within me became overwhelming, it was almost the same feeling I got when Dr. Tonson was about to inject me. The feeling of fear that could not be contained. I couldn't respond, I had no idea what to say or do.

"Tecna, are you all right?" I heard Ms. Faragonda's voice as my thoughts drifted back to her, she was now on her knees in front of me, taking my arms gently, "Let me look at the bruises again." After moments of tender touches and observation, she released my arm.

"The bruises aren't as bad as they were when you first came to Alfea, they're almost gone," she concluded, "Are your arms still sensitive?

"Very," I told her simply, "I thought bruising doesn't take long to heal."

"Normal bruising doesn't, but because the injections were given to you so often and so harshly, the access bruises built up scarred tissue and now it takes a lot longer to heal than the average bruise. If you continued to get injected, the bruises would be more unlikely to heal." The headmistress explained, "Do you remember that I suggested we take pictures of the bruises just in case they do heal?"

"I do," I answered quietly, and she took them out from the file folder.

"Everything we need to prove Tonson is an unfit father figure is right here in this folder." She assured me confidently, "though we still need your story." Being reminded of that made my heart pound in my chest, I didn't want to remember the horrors of my life in Zenith, I swallowed the lump in my throat and Ms. Faragonda immediately knew I was unsettled by the whole thing.

"I'm not sure if I can go through with this," I admitted in a small voice, "I wanted to escape the memories of being Tonson's experiment. I wanted to start fresh."

"I realize that, Tecna," The headmistress reassured me, "but in order to build a house, we need a foundation. Right now our foundation is for me to become your legal guardian and handle all the big decisions for you until you are of age. You can't be alone in the world, and you know that I won't let you." Her voice sounded reassuring, but her insistence made it deathly clear that she wasn't going to take no for an answer. Emotions overwhelmed me at the moment, anxiety for what was about to come next week, slight frustration that I couldn't just live a normal life, and that I had to abide by all these laws. Even more frustration that I could never prove that I could take care of myself because of this unexplained inability to react and fight back. Time and time again I had been humiliated because of this, first I passed out in front of my friends in our common room from pulling an all-nighter, then I was the first to be knocked out by Stormy when the witches attacked Musa in Magix. And now I didn't get the mark I was expecting on my midterm because I was unable to defeat the witches I was up against. This wasn't just because I've never used my powers up until this point, Bloom was in the same position as I was and she quickly learned how to use her magic. She single handedly defeated a whole group of Cloudtower witches with one intense blast. She it wasn't just inexperience that was on my side, there was definitely a lot more to this that met the eye.

"Ms Faragonda, do you think I'll be able to join the rest of the students in battle classes next semester?" I inquired after a few moments of absolute silence.

"I don't think so, Tecna," She informed me with regret, "based on what Professor Palladium told me about your midterm, it would be way too dangerous to put you in regular battle classes just yet."

"I'm sick of feeling inadequate!" I suddenly snapped, only to realize what I had just done, "I'm.., so sorry Ms. Faragonda.., that was disrespectful of me, I didn't mean to do that."

"It's quite all right," she reassured me, "expressing your emotions is perfectly healthy, I encourage you to keep doing that, although in a more appropriate way. Don't be afraid of feelings, you won't be punished for them." This went against everything I was ever taught, I was shamed for expressing any emotions and as for the ones I couldn't control, I tried desperately to hide them. Visions of nights when I would cry myself to sleep after the pain of the injections flooded my mind, I had no idea what Dr. Tonson would have done if he saw that.

"As for you feeling inadequate compared to the other students, why don't we focus more on your difficult areas next semester." She suggested, "We might get to see an improvement." I suppose that was all she could do for me, since there was no rhyme or reason for my unexplainable weakness. I just sighed and thanked her before leaving her office. I was not looking forward to next week, and my thoughts were completely focused on the court hearing and how I was going to keep it together. What I needed now was to surround myself with my technology, regain my calm, logical demeanour and strategize a plan in order to face the my thoughts were broken when my pager beeped, and to my surprise, it was Elyssa.

"Hey Tecna, are you ready for tonight?" She began, "this is going to be epic!" I completely forgot about Elyssa's performance, it was Friday after all. I suppose it would take my mind off of what was going to come.

"Yeah, of course." I faked a smile, but the look on her face told me that she could see right through it.

"What's the mother, you look like something's bothering you." She pressed, I couldn't tell her about the court hearing, or any of my past, no one but Ms. Faragonda was to know.

"Nothing Elyssa.., I'm just very tired from midterms." I told her, it was true, but that wasn't what was on my mind.

"Okay, you go take a nap or something and I'll meet you on the quad at six thirty." She insisted, "it'll be a dark purple hover-car, I got a friend to drive us." I just agreed as we ended the call, and I continued to walk back to the dorms. The rest of the afternoon was spent playing the video game that Timmy lent me, and taking apart some of my gadgets. It was my way of relaxation after all these stirred up emotions caused me to want to shut down, this was something I didn't like and I don't know if I'll ever get used to it.

* * *

 **As you may have guessed, here is where Tecna's secret really comes into play, during the next chapter. You'll get to see just how much trauma Tecna has gone through as she rehashes her memories during the court hearing.**

 **I also wasn't sure just how important Elyssa's outing was going to be in the grand scheme of things. Tecna doesn't experience anything along the lines of fame first hand until becoming the Guardian Fairy of Zenith and then joining the Winx Club band in season four. Noted the only benefit she'd get from being at these night clubs with Elyssa now is expanding her** **dance skills. Don't deny that Tecna's gotten out of her shell over the three seasons after telling Timmy that dancing makes her feel awkward just five episodes ago.**

 **Anyway I really hope you enjoyed, I kinda feel that the episodes after the girls return from Domino are going to be really difficult to keep up the 8,000'word count average. Any ideas for that would be greatly appreciated!**


	13. Tecna's Great Secret

**A lot of this, except for the court hearing, is mostly just filler, which I honestly don't like. I also wanted a way for Tecna's experience at the night club to not end so well, but not be so terrifying that she would never want to go back. So I decided to have Damian try to get back into a club he was recently kicked out of. And it foreshadows a little bit into how his relationship with Tecna is going to be.**

 **Sorry I took so long to post this and I should have had it up by Saturday if not yesterday at the very latest. Though something quite exhausting came up with I will explain in my update on DevientArt.**

 **Winx Club Episode Dialogue (c) Iginio Straffi And Rainbow S.r.l**

* * *

 **Chapter Thirteen: Tecna's Great Secret**

At six thirty that same evening, I stood waiting on the quad of the school for fairies waiting for Elyssa's car. In just a few minutes of waiting, I could hear the base of a sound system in the distance, advancing towards the school. It didn't take long for the source of the music to make itself known as a dark purple car pulled up by the wing shaped gates of Alfea. As I stepped towards the car, the dark tinted back window rolled down and Elyssa greeted me while adjusting her sunglasses.

"Hey, Tecna, are you still ready for tonight? You are the whole inspiration for this new image I'm going for." She asked as I nodded only slightly.

"I'm not entirely sure what this experience is going to entail, but since you've put so much time and effort into this performance it would be a shame for me not to go." I admitted, I didn't want her to get the idea that I didn't want to see her perform, it was just the location. This was a totally new thing for me.

"Okay, Eric, could you escort my friend to the back seat." Suddenly the same man that I saw Elyssa talking to the very first day I met her stepped out of the driver's seat and extended a hand to greet me. I nervously returned his gesture as he led me to the back of the car, opening the door and assisting me in to sit beside Elyssa.

"Was that even necessary, I could have gotten into the car myself?" I asked, looking at the purple haired fairy quizzically.

"It's just so people know that you are associated with me, everyone in Magix knows not to mess around with me. And because you're so unsure of what might happen, I don't want you to get hurt." She explained simply. I wasn't sure how to take that, was Elyssa taking pity on me, or was she actually being genuine, and every one of the people she takes to these things gets the same special treatment. I would have to find out for myself.

"Do you prefer the music off, Miss Tecna?" Eric asked from the driver's seat once he got back into the car.

"Please just call me Tecna," I insisted quietly, "Ms. Griselda calls us Miss. And I don't mind the music, just not as loud." As we drove away to Magix, Elyssa kept looking at me worriedly.

"Tecna, I know the whole idea of being at a night club is terrifying. I know you're normally an introvert, taking apart your gadgets, looking up new things, surrounding yourself with technology, and I even said that if you really didn't feel comfortable going, I would understand." She pressed.

"I know you did tell me that, but I want to see this through, and I trust that if something isn't right that you'd take me straight back to Alfea." I reassured her with an honest smile

* * *

As we arrived in the back parking lot of the night club, I was surprised that Elyssa wasn't planning to make a big entrance, but I suppose that will come in time. Elyssa and I waited for Eric, who I remembered from a few weeks ago was her manager, to escort us both out of the car. Elyssa insisted that he help her out of the car first, and I would wait in the back so we could all go in together. I was beginning to wonder that if Elyssa needed to have an eye on me all the time, perhaps this wasn't such a safe place as she assured me it would be. Eric, Elyssa and I walked up to a side door where a bulky looking man was guarding the entrance. However his tough demeanour completely disappeared once he saw Elyssa's manager.

"Hey, Elyssa," he greeted her casually, his voice contradicting his intimidating appearance, "it's nice to see you hear again, who's this?" The man eyed me skeptically.

"Don't worry about it, she's with me." The purple haired fairy told him, reaching over to squeeze my hand gently in reassurance as I looked up at her from staring at my feet, then I turned my gaze to the man guarding the door.

"In that case you're in good hands," He finally spoke after I made eye contact with him, "No one has ever dared to mess with Elyssa, Eric makes sure that he personally deals with anyone that tries."

"That makes you sound quite intimidating." I hesitated.

"Relax Tecna, I watch out for my friends, only those who do me wrong need to be careful." Elyssa joked as Eric continued to escort us down the hallway near her dressing room. Once we saw our destination, Eric took my hand, causing me to look up at Elyssa, then back to him.

"Elyssa needs to get prepared for her show, I'll take you to get settled." He explained generously, when suddenly my friend pulled him aside for a brief moment.

"Listen, take real good care of Tecna, she has never been in a place like this and is very uneasy. Make sure no one touches her drink and keep a very close watch on her. If anyone tries anything shady, I'm going to personally give them a black eye. Understood." I could hear Elyssa speak harshly under her breath to her manager, and he nodded in response.

"Are you sure bringing her here was a very good idea?" He questioned in a low whisper, I could still hear their conversation but said nothing.

"On the surface, probably not," Elyssa admitted, "but I have everything covered, you'll take her home if anything gets out of hand. And I promised her and myself that she'd be okay." Eric nodded his head once more as a sign that he trusted Elyssa on her word, and took my hand, leading me down the corridor to a huge open area.

* * *

The main performance area was enormous, colourful lights of all different kinds covered the walls and there were speakers in all four corners and a few small ones hanging from below the ceiling. In one corner of the room, there was a booth with what I could only assume was soundproof glass, and someone was controlling the music from inside. In the other corner was a bar which I know must have a variety of both alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks, and that was the one thing that made me very weary about being here. Ms. Faragonda once spoke to me about this kind of experience, the potential of peer pressure and the dangers I might face, she knew that since I had absolutely no exposure to the real world up until this point, I would need to learn a lot before it was too late. With the headmistress's words of caution on my mind, I decided to research a little bit on the affects of alcohol on a person, and from what I have learned, it was terrifying. Remembering what I have researched, even before I met Elyssa, it made me what to second guess my decision to be here, but having her manager holding my hand loosely as he escorted me towards the bar made me curious to find out just how far Elyssa would go to look out for my wellbeing. The woman at the bar immediately recognized Eric when she saw him, and once again he explained that I was Elyssa's guest of honour. The woman instantly knew what to do at that moment, giving me a smile of reassurance.

"So, hon, what would you like?" She asked me kindly as I just stared nervously back at Eric, "Not sure, huh, how about just a soda then?" Now that I was free to choose different types of beverages in my life, I was able to try many things, and thanks to the girls I had my first soda not too long ago. Once she returned with the drink, I saw her do something to my beverage with her magic that I wasn't sure about, and suddenly my name appeared on the side of the glass.

"What did you do?" I inquired quizzically.

"I do this for Elyssa all the time, it's a deflection spell, no one but you and I can touch your drink." The bartender explained, "prevents a lot of drinks from getting spiked with who knows what. Eric, could you demonstrate?" So Eric reached his hand out to attempt to take my glass, only for the spell to create an invisible field around it for the split second he tried. Then I began to reach out for my drink, only to pick it up and be able to take a sip. Perhaps Elyssa was dead serious when she meant that no one messed with her or the people that are with her, everyone seemed to know how to deal with things. I was amazed by how effective the deflection spell worked, it would have to be very potent for it to be used so much. Once I had my beverage, Eric sat me down near the front of the stage where a table was set up specially assigned for Elyssa and anyone associated with her. Eric pulled up a seat for me, and once I was seated, he sat on the other side of the table for a while. The music in the room was blasting quite loudly, and I almost couldn't hear Eric speak.

"I'm going to check up on Elyssa," he told me, " we have a lot of people looking out for you here so you'll never be unsupervised." As he left, I continued to slowly sip my drink and look around cautiously, turning towards the stage every now and then. Within about five or ten minutes, the lights on the stage went down, and a spotlight shone in the centre as another man walked on stage and adjusted the microphone.

"Good evening everyone, tonight is the reveal of the highly anticipated new song that Elyssa Janis has been working on for the past month!" He announced enthusiastically, " It has been said that she has been hit with a new source of inspiration and a brand new image, and here tonight is Elyssa's guest of honour." A round of applause erupted from everyone in the room while they faced me, and from the corner of my eye, I noticed that Eric returned to his seat next to me. The host concluded his introduction and left the stage, and seconds later, Elyssa walked past him wearing a long yellow gown, and her hair was pulled up in a bun. The room fell silent, and I looked around to see many disappointed expressions on the faces of the crowd of people. They were expecting her to start singing, but once she reached the microphone, she held her head up high and began to speak.

"Tonight, I have planned this new performance so that all of Magix could witness my brand new.., shall I say.., upgrade." She chuckled slightly, looking in my direction from where I sat in the front of the room. The stage lights suddenly shut off, turning the room completely black, and mist filled where Elyssa once stood. The lighting effects were so incredible that they were supposed to resemble falling ones and zeros, like binary. And as the mist began to fade, an upbeat rhythm began to play and words appeared on a projector screen behind the stage. They were big, bold green letters that read 'Installing new upgrades,' as if a new piece of software was being installed. Elyssa really did her research aside from asking me questions about myself and my powers. I don't know what it was, but somehow she found technology fascinating, I didn't get that from too many people. As Elyssa reappeared from the darkness, she was in an entirely different ensemble than before. It was a tight purple jumpsuit, almost resembling my Magic Winx fairy form, but with a colour scheme of yellow and purple, and no helmet. There were distinct differences in the outfit from my fairy form, maintaining it's originality. I suppose that was how I inspired her, her new motif was inspired by technology and by me, I never knew that what I had said to her when we first met had so much of an impact. When everyone in the room was able to see her complete transformation, it was apparently something Elyssa was not expected to do and it definitely took the audience by surprise. The music continued to play as she began moving her hips to the rhythm and grabbed the microphone from its stand. The song she sung was about freedom of expression, not being controlled not being just one way or the other, having definition to her personality then just what was on the surface. Lights shone in all directions around her while she danced on the stage, and she was a wonderful dancer. I hadn't witnessed many people dancing in my life so this was something special. Once she completed her performance, the room roared with applause as the lights went down once more. She reappeared down the stage steps and started walking towards her table where I sat with Eric, only to have multiple people crowd her asking for autographs and answers to their questions.

"What gave you the inspiration for this new image?" Someone began asking.

"Where did you come up with the lyrics to that new song?" Another person inquired ,and Elyssa just managed to sit down next to me before answering any questions. Immediately after she was seated, Eric left to the bar to get her own glass of soda.

"To answer your questions, people," Elyssa began, slightly exhausted but still smiling, "My new friend Tecna here, was the inspiration for my new computer style. The lyrics to my new song are my own." I could feel myself blushing at that moment, I really did make an impact on her, from just a few simple words. She barely knew me through a hole in the wall and just a month later she completely changes her image as, what she told me was a sign of appreciation for what I'd said.

"What made you want to revise your image? It's a refreshing change!" Another girl asked her.

"When I met Tecna for the first time, she told me that I shouldn't be embarrassed to say I'm a fairy." Elyssa explained, "All my previous songs were about how my father would never accept that about me, how much I love him and that I don't want to break his heart. He's my dad, he'll love me no matter what, and I'm a fairy with powers over electricity, and like I said to Tecna, he'll just have to live with that." Cheers filled the area around our table once she finished her speech, and as I turned my gaze for just a moment, I thought I saw a familiar, yet unsettling face belonging to a young man leaning against the wall in a corner. I had to look again to make sure I was seeing him correctly, and just as I thought, it was Damian. I immediately attempted to hide myself from sight, and Eric happened to notice my reaction.

"Is something the matter, Tecna?" He whispered kindly.

"Do you know if he comes here often?" I inquired in a low, shaky voice, pointing to Damian in the corner of the room, surrounded by the darkness.

"He was supposed to be kicked out of this night club for reckless behaviour and sexual harassment." Eric informed me, and that brought up a red flag, Damian had just recently threatened me if I didn't continue being his personal technical support. Did that possibly mean he was going to try anything with me? At that moment I began to feel insecure, even if Eric and Elyssa were surrounding me. Just the expression that suddenly appeared on my face told Elyssa's manager everything he needed to know, and I didn't have to say a word. He instantly got Elyssa's attention from answering more questions, and pointed again towards Damian. The purple haired fairy gasped and took my hand as we quietly snuck out into the corridor to her dressing room.

"Eric, tell the bartender immediately, get security." Elyssa whispered hastily, "why the Oblivion would he choose tonight to try and sneak back into this place? Especially with Tecna here." The look on her face made it obvious that it was a rhetorical question, he knew there was a defenceless young fairy coming who could easily be taken advantage of. But did he know it was me, and was he aware that I was with Elyssa and did he know just how influential Elyssa could be? Eric responded quickly by nodding as he rushed back into the gigantic dance floor, and Elyssa and I reached her room. There was a small seating area in the corner, and we waited there for Eric to return.

"If security knows he's here, he'll be thrown out." Elyssa reassured me softly, "but I wouldn't blame you if you wanted to go back to Alfea."

"I did see your performance, that's all I really came here for." I told her, "It was fun, and thank you for all the credit you gave me. I really didn't need it though."

"All right, as soon as Eric gets here, we'll take you back to Alfea." She promised with a sincere smile. When Eric returned, he informed us that Damian had been kicked out once more, and security was supposed to be on high alert just in case he tried to get back in again at a later date. Once the car drove up to the wing shaped gates of the school for fairies, he opened the door to let me out and lead me to the opposite side while assisting Elyssa.

"Is everything all right now, ladies?" He asked us before getting into the driver's seat.

"Yeah, I'll take Tecna back to her dorm room on my way." She insisted, and as we went into the school, the car drove off.

"I really hope that didn't ruin your whole experience with night clubs forever." She thought in a low whisper.

"No, I trust you and Eric, I know you are looking out for me." I assured her, "but I don't want to go again for a little while. It's just not my thing."

"Fair enough," She agreed, "Do you know if your roommates have already left for semester break yet?"

"Musa and Stella want to leave in the morning, so they'll be there." I told her.

"Good," Elyssa replied, "I don't want you to be alone." Why not, I was alone most of my life, I was quite used to it by now.

"I'm used to being alone Elyssa." I insisted dully, looking down at my shoes for a brief second as we continued to head towards the freshmen dormitories. She stopped abruptly, stepping in front of me and placing supportive hands on my shoulders.

"Now that you're at Alfea, you'll never have to be alone." The tone in her voice reassured me, it caused me to feel something that I couldn't define at the moment, but I smiled in response. We went our separate ways after we reached my dorm room, and as I opened the door, the lights were off. I snuck into my bedroom quietly, getting ready for bed in silence, so I wouldn't wake up my roommate with sonar hearing. Laying down in my bed, my thoughts began to wander back to Damian, and what Elyssa had said about not being alone. I was a little scared that he might have saw me at the night club, and then what would he do? Based on what I knew, he would use that against me to get me to keep doing things for him. I was afraid of the potential harm he could do to me now that I knew a bit more of his reputation.

* * *

The next morning, Ms Faragonda told me to meet in her office, she insisted that she give me a place to stay during semester break. I opened her door, and she was standing behind her desk, watching out the window as the last of the students departed from the school. Her file folder with all my records was on her desk, considering everything that happened last night, I completely forgot about the court hearing next week. As she heard me entering her office, she immediately turned to face in my direction and picked up the folder while walking towards me.

"Now, Tecna," She began calmly, she knew that I was slightly nervous about the court hearing, "when I accepted you into Alfea, I told you that it'll be important for you to bring medical records and every piece of identification you own."

"Yes, and you have it all, I gave them to you the first week I came." I confirmed evenly, not wishing to show my nervousness or anxiety towards the situation.

"I'm just curious how you managed to retrieve those documents without Dr. Tonson's knowledge, wouldn't he know they were missing?" She inquired.

"I have the originals," I explained, "I returned photocopies to his filing cabinet, they haven't been used in at least a few years."

"Well, in that case, we have your birth certificate, Magical Security Number card, your health card, and you managed to get some documents that look very suspicious to me, it looks as if Dr. Tonson hasn't taken you to a doctor in your entire life. Do you recall any doctor's visits, check ups, anything of that sort?" Ms Faragonda's expression become extremely concerned at the moment when she remembered looking over the documents I gave her.

"No..." I confessed, "I've been trapped in that endless building for as long as I can remember. I have never seen the outside world of Zenith up until a few months ago."

"This is another strong lead for our case," Mrs. Faragonda acknowledged, "this is more evidence that Tonson is an unfit father figure for you. Now there is another thing I must tell you, because we need a few people to vouch for our case, I have told a few very trusted and old friends your story and about your situation, and what I plan to do for you. They are going to attend the hearing as well."

"You told people about my deepest darkest secret, when I had complete trust that if you found out that whatever I told you would be kept confidential." I was taken by surprise when I heard my headmistress confess this to me. I didn't want anybody else to know about what my life was like in Zenith, they would feel pity for me, or worse, if word of my situation got too far into the Magic Dimension, Dr. Tonson would eventually have the knowledge to be able to find me. That was one of my biggest fears.

"I have kept that in mind, Tecna, your circumstances are still in the strictest confidentiality, I choose people that knew me who I could trust wholeheartedly to keep your secret. And besides, your life is in danger because of Dr. Tonson, and if one of my students' lives' is at risk, then it is my responsibility to make sure by any means necessary that your safety and wellbeing is not put in jeopardy." She reassured me firmly, "I had to do what I had to do."

* * *

After a few more minutes of discussion about the following week, we departed from her office, leaving the school for fairies to a house in a quiet neighbourhood in Magix City. This is where Mrs. Faragonda stayed when she wasn't in the faculty quarters. It was a simple home with plenty of family photos decorating the walls, and a warm, welcoming sensation surrounded me that I was unfamiliar with, it was something I never seen before. As we came in the door, she set my belongings down for a moment while catching her breath.

"I'll bring your things upstairs to the guest room, you just make yourself at home and unpack, and I'll call you for dinner." She insisted. After getting my things to the upstairs room, I sat on the neatly made bed, still buried in my thoughts about next week, and what Elyssa said to me last night. She told me that now that I am at Alfea, I'll never be alone, and as I realized just how persistent Mrs. Faragonda was to make sure I was safe and secure. Perhaps that was part of what Elyssa meant. I felt different having people look out for me when I only could look after myself for the longest time, what was this feeling I was experiencing? It wasn't that they were feeling sorry for me, it wasn't that they assumed that I couldn't take care of myself. Elyssa asked me what I wanted to do when I saw Damian last night, taking me into consideration. Mrs. Faragonda, although she did reveal my situation to complete strangers, she chose people she knew she could trust to vouch for her to take care of me and who knew her enough to support the case. She may have broke my confidentiality, but she did it for my sake, like she told me, she had to do what she had to do. Mrs. Faragonda, the faculty of Alfea, the girls, and Elyssa all care about me, at least that's what they say, and I don't know how to respond to that, it's too different, and that makes me want to retreat back to isolation into my room, taking apart my devices and researching, learning, doing things that I rely on. Though I know now that they'll never leave me alone in isolation, that was a part of my old life, and Mrs. Faragonda insists that I'm still transitioning.

* * *

The next Tuesday, I was finally sitting beside Mrs. Faragonda in the courtroom, her few friends came, and a judge sat in front of the room and a jury panel sat to our right. I want silent, I knew that I would have to recall every excruciating detail of my childhood and adolescence from as far back as I could remember. I knew that the court would want to see what was left of the bruises on my arms as visual evidence of Dr. Tonson's abuse. The room became quiet as the judge brought everyone's attention to him.

"Now, this is the case of Mrs. Carol Faragonda, to be appointed to be the legal guardian of Miss Tecna Logica of Zenith under Magix' law. Mrs. Faragonda, if you may, state your case." He began.

"When I first saw Tecna's application to be a student at Alfea, I found that she managed to forge her current guardian's signature. This was the first of my suspicions and I knew something was terribly wrong at home for her to feel compelled to do this. When I confronted her about this on the first day she came, she immediately ran out of the room. My colleague Ms. Helen Griselda was the first to notice severe bruising on Tecna's arms. She confessed to us that she was being abused by her current guardian while living in Zenith, and the more I've discovered from what she's told me, the more I can see that this Dr. Tonson is an unfit father figure for Tecna." Mrs. Faragonda explained. I swallowed the lump in my throat, it was to be expected that the judge was going to need to talk to me in order to get the entire story before Mrs. Faragonda came into the picture.

"And how was Miss Tecna being abused, tell us everything you can." The judge pressed before she continued her case.

"Tecna told me that she was being used for some kind of experiment, a formula he has created and injects her with it every third day. That is where the scars and bruises that Mrs. Griselda saw come from. She is always confined to her bedroom with locked doors, she has never left this man's building for as long as she can remember. She also says she has had the exact same meal every day. She has been homeschooled, has absolutely no social experiences up until coming to Alfea, and unfortunately I have had to place her in one on one battle classes which I'm personally instructing because she could get seriously hurt in the regular freshman classes. We have no idea what this creation that Dr. Tonson is doing to her, but I intend to figure it out." As she continued speaking, I watched the judge looked over the documents that Mrs. Faragonda had put together to support our case. He read everything very carefully while the headmistress continued our story, his expression changed suddenly as time went by slowly. The room became almost silent, the judge was going over the papers that Mrs. Faragonda had brought, including all the suspicious medical documents.

"I have a few questions for Miss Tecna to answer, that is if she feels comfortable." He spoke up after moments of silence, putting the papers down, "Miss Tecna, can you tell the court everything you can remember about your life back in Zenith." I opened my mouth to speak, the memories flooding back to me all at once.

"I.., when Dr. Tonson wanted me to be injected, he would get his colleagues to take me from my bedroom to his laboratory, grabbing me by the arms." I was trying to describe the whole thing while still keeping my cool, "He would force me to get on his lab table, and when I did.., he used his powers to take my emotions away, just so I couldn't scream." That was all I managed to get out before I began trembling fiercely.

"It's okay Tecna," Mrs. Faragonda must have noticed that I was beginning to shake, "if you can't say any more, you don't have to."

"No, Mrs. Faragonda," I gulped, " I need to do this... The pain was very intense when they did inject me, first my arm would go numb..., and then after I got feeling back, it was just searing. All those nights I spent lying on my bed grasping my arms to try and ease the pain..." by now I could feel hot salty tears filling my eyes, and I just hid my face from everyone's view just so they couldn't see me.

"Tecna, are you going to be okay?" The Alfea headmistress asked me with a concerned tone to her voice, she was sitting right next to me, and I suddenly noticed she was squeezing my hand supportively. However I just needed to leave, I wanted to get myself together, restore my logical thinking and continue with the hearing.

"Excuse me." I suddenly began to get up from my seat and turn towards the door, just like I did the first day I was at Alfea, but a hand instantly grabbed mine.

"No no, it's going to be all right." It was Mrs. Faragonda who grabbed my hand, and she seated me back down, everyone knew that I did not want to speak anymore. By now I was trembling uncomfortably, and the tears couldn't stop from coming, a few people from the jury came slowly to me, observing my arms carefully.

"Are your arms still tender from the injections?" One of them asked me calmly, and I just nodded my head in response without being able to say another word. My throat closed up, the tears in my eyes were causing my vision to blur. There were so many emotions rising to the surface and I didn't know what to think. The emotions I was experiencing were clouding all sense of logical judgment, I did not like it and I couldn't control it. I couldn't see clearly but I could still feel gentle touches on my arms while the jury members observed me. All the memories that I've ever had from Zenith resurfaced while I was telling the court what I witnessed on a daily basis, and it was too much for me to handle. The next thing I knew, I passed out..

* * *

My eyes opened and the only thing I could see was Mrs. Faragonda looking down at me. I sat up very carefully, looking around, realizing that she must have carried me to the courthouse lobby. I was laying on a long couch, and she and I were the only people in the room.

"What just happened?" I inquired groggily, still trying to put together the pieces of what transpired in the past half hour.

"You must have been so overwhelmed by the memories of living in Zenith and the emotions associated with them that you fainted, you're not used to having so many emotions arise at once." She explained in a low, gentle voice.

"Emotions," I huffed irritably, "just what I really needed to ruin any chance of proving our case."

"On the contrary, Tecna, when the judge and jury saw just how traumatizing these memories were for you to bring up, it was more than enough proof, along with what you told them, that Tonson is indeed an unfit parent." Mrs. Faragonda told me, "The friends I have invited to the hearing are just stating their case towards me being a qualified legal guardian for you, and if your ready, we can go back in. You don't need to say anything else." All I wanted at this point was to end the day, and go back to Mrs. Faragonda's house for the rest of semester break. I heaved a sigh and stood up from the couch weakly while she helped me to my feet. After the rest of the hearing, the judge did declare that the living situation I had in Zenith was detrimental to my health and wellbeing. Unfortunately since Zenith has different laws and regulations than Magix, there was nothing they could do to put Tonson behind bars under Magix law. Knowing this was kind of a relief for me, because there would be no reason for the law enforcement of Magix to look for Dr. Tonson, therefore revealing my escape. The judge needed more time to look over the documents that were given to him at the hearing, and they were insistent on trying to find any one of my distant relatives before taking Mrs. Faragonda's offer of becoming my legal guardian any further. It was not a definite no, and perhaps I would find a family member who was willing to care for me while I was still under legal age. There were still so many questions left to be answered, and the Alfea headmistress only told me that we would just have to wait.

* * *

That night while Mrs. Faragonda and I were sitting quietly in her living room, I was looking at something on my palmtop and I noticed her looking deeply in my direction with a concerned expression on her face.

"Tecna, something has been on my mind ever since you admitted to me that you don't remember seeing a doctor." She began and I snapped my head towards her at full attention.

"You want me to see a doctor?" I questioned, my tone beginning to lower at the very thought of it.

"I have a wonderful doctor in Magix, the judge said I was responsible for you until his final decision is made, and on that note I need to put things in place for you." She insisted evenly, "don't worry my dear, the worst I believe you'll have to go through is blood work, and I will be there with you the entire time." Despite the fact that I thought I was finally free from needles, I still had to go through more. Although she did have a point, what if something did happen to me and I didn't have a doctor to go to in order to rectify the problem? Going through everything that happened in the day in my mind, I only leaned my head backwards on one of the headmistress's throw pillows.

"I never knew I needed to go through so much just to become independent." I sighed, "when I first came to Alfea, you said I only had to worry about my studies."

"I did, that's true, but as time went by I realized you needed more help than I originally thought." Mrs. Faragonda replied softly, "You definitely need to be involved in some of these things so that I can build a new foundation for you."

"What I don't understand is why I'm so physically weak, why I can't react in battle like every other fairy. That's what's really getting to me." I thought, staring out into the window.

"Going to a doctor will probably help us figure that out," she reassured me, "you never know." We sat beside each other on her living room couch in deep thought about what was to come.

* * *

On Friday that week, Mrs. Faragonda brought me to her doctor's office after making an appointment the day after the hearing. It didn't take long for us to meet her and for the Alfea headmistress to explain some of my situation to her. Her name was Dr. Mayble, her hair was short, a shade of dark bluish purple, and she wore a white blouse. From a first impression the doctor was approachable, understanding and thorough, no wonder Mrs. Faragonda went to her. After changing into a gown, which I found very uncomfortable, I was looked over by the doctor. She checked my heart, lungs, blood pressure, reflexes, my eyes, mouth, ears, almost everything. As she wrote some things down, she glanced back at Mrs. Faragonda quizzically.

"Well, there seems to be nothing generally wrong with Tecna, even after seemingly not going to a doctor for her entire life." She concluded after looking at the results of the basic tests she did on me, "However I do recommend that she goes in for some blood work and some x-rays, just to air on the side of caution."

"What do you mean?" Mrs Faragonda asked her.

"I want to make sure this young woman is absolutely healthy, I want everything checked, especially after going so long without health care." Dr. Mayble clarified sincerely, "I'm glad you were able to catch me at a time when I was accepting new patients, I'm more than happy to take Tecna on. And if you need any more support for your case to become her legal guardian, just ask me and I'll make a statement for you.

"Thank you so much, Dr. Mayble." The Alfea headmistress shook her hand, and turned to shake mine.

"It was a pleasure to meet you Tecna, and you are very courageous to be here so far away from your home realm all by yourself. I know Mrs. Faragonda has your best interest at heart." She reassured me, and I honestly didn't know how to respond. I got the same vibe as when Elyssa told me that I wasn't going to be alone anymore, and when Mrs. Faragonda reassured me that everything was going to be all right during the court hearing. I couldn't describe it and it was comforting in a different way than my computers and electronics comforted me, it was a different type of comfort, and it was unusual. After printing out a requisition form for blood work to be done, Mrs. Faragonda scheduled another appointment in a month to discuss the results with Dr. Mayble. I was glad that I didn't have to get the blood test today, she assured me I didn't need to If I wasn't ready for it. She understood that I wanted the rest of the semester break to let all that happened sink in, and for me to collect my thoughts. It was quite the experience for me during the week. I first got to see Elyssa's performance a week ago, which had extraordinary light effects and a very intriguing theme of a computer software upgrade. That was truly an honour to be the inspiration for the brand new look she had, and everyone loved it. Then I really got to release the emotions that all the trauma and pain have caused me over the years, I never thought I would see the day when I would have an emotional breakdown, but that was the day. It was humiliating and relieving at the same time, which really confuses me, a lot of the things I experienced this week confused me. I felt things I never thought I would in my life, I went places I never expected to go. Now I have a doctor thanks to the Alfea headmistress, she has done quite a lot for me since I came to Magix and I don't know what to say to her. I don't even know what will happen next while I'm out on my own in this huge Magical Dimension. Mrs. Faragonda warned me that it was going to get a lot more difficult from here on. With her words of caution, she continued to reassured me that she, as well as the rest of the faculty at Alfea, and the Winx Club, were going to be by my side every step of the way.

* * *

Once I was back at Alfea the following week, we were finished unpacking our belongings, but Blom appeared to be very upset for some reason. Being her roommate, Flora was the first to ask her what was wrong, and Bloom insisted that the rest of us meet in their room to discuss what she had discovered over semester break. She told us that she found out she was adopted, and her father found her in a blazing building, however the fire did not harm her. She did not understand any of what it meant, and by the end of her story, the expression on her face looked completely confused and distressed. She was now laying on her bed with her head resting on her pillow as Flora sat next to her, Musa and I sat next to her bed and Stella sat on the foot of her bed. Everything she now discovered must change the way she feels about how she grew up, the look on her face says it all. She is so lucky though, no matter rather she was adopted or not, she still grew up living a completely normal life with no fear or isolation, and despite this confusing new information, I was positive she was still aware of that.

"Bloom, cheer up." Musa was the first to speak after endless silence once we heard the news. Flora just placed a friendly hand on her head as she continued to stay silent.

"Musa's right, what happened to you is one of the most beautiful things in the world." She greed, "Adopting a baby is a great act of unselfish love."

"That is totally logical." That was all I could say for Bloom. I was still getting over having to remember everything that ever happened to me in my childhood, having to reveal that to an entire courtroom full of people. However now was the time for Bloom to be heard, my issues would have to be dealt with later. She was still in shock, all of her past memories were now just a fragment of her entire life, there was a lot more for her to discover that she only just scratched the surface.

"You're a lucky girl," Musa reminded her as she finally decided to sit up, " and that's why you've got to smile."

"I know Musa, I know." Bloom sighed, "My parents are amazing."

"So Bloom, what do you plan on doing now?" Stella inquired as she faced us from the foot of Bloom's bed.

"Well, I plan on getting some answers," she began, getting up, "Why wasn't I hurt by the flames? Who are my real parents and who am I?" She began pacing the room as she spoke. I knew she was curious about her past, and she had every right to know her identity, though I was weary, I didn't want her to find out that she has a life she didn't expect. What if there was some dark secrets hidden within the answers she sought, perhaps knowing the truth wasn't always a good thing. On the other hand I was only thinking from personal experience, maybe Bloom's hidden past was everything she could have dreamed it would be. I couldn't say for sure, but I only wanted to give her a word of caution, not discouragement.

"Are you absolutely sure you want to find out the whole truth?" I inquired very seriously with just a little bit of hesitation. It was up to her after all, and it would be terrible for her to find out that she had a frightening secret like I do. I was only hoping that she

was prepared for whatever the end result would be.

"I don't think I have a choice." Bloom insisted, and hearing his owner's voice, Kiko perked up beside where Flora was sitting on the bed.

"Your search could be long and difficult," She warned Bloom, "as well as painful."

"What would you do if you were me?" Bloom shot back, pointing a finger at her. Kikko just looked at her

startled, then looked back at Flora. I'm absolutely sure Bloom didn't mean to raise her voice, but I didn't blame her for demanding some answers. Everything just happened to her so fast, all this new information and all that she had ever known until now has been put into question, she needed to know and she was going to fight until she got the answers she needed.

"Bloom, I'm only saying this for your own good," Flora continued, "I don't want you to suffer." She had the same words of caution as I did for Bloom, I would support her in every way, and Flora and I only want her to know that anything could happen.

"Thank you Flora, but at this point I could never go back," Bloom told us, "I want to find out everything about my past, now more than ever." While she said this, we all walked up to her.

"And we'll all be right there with you." Stella promised her, walking up to her best friend and placing her hands on Bloom's shoulders, "After all, sticking my nose in other peoples' business is my favourite sport. You know, I

just love gossip."

"Really, who would've thought." Musa replied with a joking smile, and Bloom just smiled back at her.

"Will you all help me?" Bloom asked.

"Of course." Flora answered in her sweet, encouraging voice.

"Absolutely!" Stella cheered in response.

"By all means." I added simply.

"You have our word." Musa promised as she extended her hand outward in the middle of the little circle

we formed, Stella followed, and Flora and I placed our hands on top of theirs , "Word of..."

"Winx!" We all shouted in total unison, and Bloom giggled slightly as she finished by putting her own hand on the rest of ours. Then we gathered for a group hug, Flora and Stella coming in first to embrace our redhead friend, and Musa and I joined in from the outside. I eased my way into the group hug, this being one of those few times when emotions were accepted and I wasn't going to feel shame or be punished for expressing them. It was a very uneasy thing to get used to, but the Winx and Ms. Faragonda reassured me that it was okay to allow myself to feel. Now I truly felt part of a group, and giving my time to help Bloom figure out her identity would distract me from the petrifying abuse of my own childhood that I had endured.

* * *

 **The song Elyssa sings is not mentioned in the chapter of course but I've picked the song Seeya by Deadmou5 and Colleen Agostino. It's very hard to find a good audio version of it on YouTube but the live version sounds just as good. I think this might be the last major appearance of Elyssa for a while.**


	14. Bloom's Dark Secret

**I was absolutely appalled by the previous version of this chapter, the result of Tecna's injury on the obstacle course had her staying in the infirmary overnight and she was still having effects from it the next morning. Not to mention the chapter was just filled with Stella giving Tecna such a hard time when they were suppose to be focused on finding Bloom. And Flora insisting on worrying too much about Tecna after her injury. A lot of that has been edited out. I'm actually glad I was able to add a couple of Timmy scenes in this chapter, although now that Brandon/Sky is under the impression that Bloom is fated to be evil, Timmy feels the need to do double duty as a secret agent for the FPP. I'm also thrilled that I could still make my 8,000 word quota without filling the chapter with too much worthless crap. Thank you all for reading and I hope you enjoy.**

 **Winx Club Episode Dialogue (c) Iginio Straffi And Rainbow S.r.l**

* * *

 **Chapter Fourteen: Bloom's Dark Secret**

 **Timmy's Point of View**

Midterms were finally over, and I was getting ready to return to the Fairy Protection Program Headquarters in my home realm for the semester break. The last time I had got any information about Tecna was after the midterms at Alfea started, she said that the simulator midterm had to be postponed because the Trix managed to temper with the controls and sabotage Bloom's exam. I hadn't heard from her since, and was beginning to wonder if I wasn't doing the best at my assignment as I should be. I was so deep in my thoughts, trying to figure out how to get more information on Tecna so I am aware of what exactly I'd be protecting her from. I barely heard my computer beeping, and the screen of my webcam flashed to life as I turned my attention to the sound.

Unexpectedly, it was a call from General Tyler, and his face appeared on screen when I accepted.

"Agent Timothy Windez, how is the mission with Miss Tecna coming along?" He asked evenly, I honestly had nothing to say to him that he probably didn't already know, that is except the threat of the Trix.

"Well, nothing too dangerous hasn't happened yet. Though there are three witches from Cloudtower who insist on doing anything they can to put one of her roommates in danger. I've seen the girl and it looks like she holds some pretty intense powers. If Tecna's roommate Bloom holds a power that could be catastrophic in the wrong hands, Tecna could more than likely get caught in the crossfire." I informed him seriously.

"That's much more than we needed to worry about, this is quite the unexpected turn of events." He answered roughly, "and that just makes your job even harder Windez. We don't just have the unknown threat lurking from Tecna's home life to deal with, but we also have to make sure that these witches don't hurt her either."

"Do we even know what this unknown threat from Zenith is?" I asked, perhaps he had gathered more information in the time I was studying at Red Fountain.

"No, Mrs. Faragonda is not allowed to disclose that information on grounds of confidentiality between her and her students. All we need to know for now is to watch Tecna for anything out of the ordinary." He told me, "Although Mrs. Faragonda has given me some information about Tecna that might be crucial to her protection. Tecna has told her that as long as she can remember, she has never been to a general practitioner or other medical professional. This means that her health could very well be in great jeopardy, and being a fairy training in battle on a daily basis, it could be more dangerous for her than it would be for the average fairy." General Tyler continued. I froze in shock, how could Tecna not remember going to a doctor, or could her parents just not have taken her to one? But why, this new piece of information made things sound very suspicious to me, now I knew that as soon as I got back from semester break, I would have a better strategy for getting more information about Tecna's life in Zenith, and what exactly I'd be protecting her from.

 **Tecna's Point of View**

Semester break was finally over, the next day after Bloom told us about her discoveries was Monday. Mrs. Faragonda wanted to see me in her office before the first day of classes, and as usual, I sat across from her as she looked at me with clasped hands placed on the desk.

"So, Tecna, we've had a pretty exciting week, haven't we." She began and I just nodded slowly in response, "And with the results of your simulation midterm, and taking into consideration everything that's happened and your progress in the one on one battle classes with me.., I have thought something over very carefully. I have also taken into account what might happen if I do decide to let you do what I am going to tell you now."

"What were you thinking of, headmistress?" I pressed, of course I wasn't sure if what she was proposing was going to be a good idea or not, but I was still open to it nonetheless.

"I was thinking of allowing you to participate in the class that Professor Palladium, Professor Wizgiz, Professor Defour and I are teaching this afternoon. The first class will be an obstacle course that will test the skills you've learned last semester." She continued, and as I heard her decision, I actually did wonder if it was the best thing to do.

"Are you sure I'm able to go through the obstacle course without getting hurt, I still remember the humiliation of my midterm in the simulator." I inquired doubtfully. I also couldn't get the image out of my head of waking up with Timmy looking down at me after Stormy knocked me out just a little under a month ago. Realizing just how easily I could be knocked out was a scary thought.

"If I knew you were going to get hurt like you did during your exam, I would've definitely went against it. However I'm always willing to give my students the opportunity to reach their hidden potential. It just wouldn't be fair not to let you have a chance because of what happened in the past." She reassured me with a knowing smile. I thanked her as she dismissed me from her office and I headed to my first class of the new semester.

* * *

I sat with the girls in the auditorium that afternoon for the class that Mrs. Faragonda mentioned that morning. The teachers of Alfea had set up an obstacle course for us, Mrs. Faragonda once again explained that this was to determine how much we've learned during our first semester. We watched a fairy named Judith fly through the course in the center of the room. She finished with a final battle cry as she placed a rose surrounded by a magic sphere on the platform while blasting an oncoming boulder with her powers.

"Well done, Judith, you get an A." Ms Faragonda announced, "Bloom, it's your turn." The redhead fairy of fire walked down the bleachers to the centre of the auditorium and transformed into her Magic Winx form. Then she stood strong, full of confidence and ready for action. Professor Wizgiz, Professor Palladium and Professor Defour, a lesser known teacher of Alfea who taught etiquette, were watching every student's turn in the obstacle course from a desk on the outside of the huge room. Bloom turned her gaze to see the rose in the magic orb floating in mid air. Ms Faragonda grunted while he snapped her fingers, and Bloom began her demonstration. Bloom flew and twirled around the obstacle course trying to avoid the lights that shone from multiple angles. Mrs. Faragonda explained that when you were hit by the lights, it would be as if you were hit by opposing magic attack. Bloom suddenly screamed when she got too close to one of the spotlights and fell to the floor, barely missing it. Although he was quick to get her bearings, and gasped while she sat up. She watched the spotlights surround her target. After staring down her target, she quickly jumped, managing to grab the rose within its orb while one of the lights created a bright blast of light as a way to try to distract her from achieving success. Luckily she was not phased by any of it. The redhead fairy landed gracefully on her knees next to a golden platform with the rose in her hands. Stella, Flora, Musa and I gasped in amazement as we watched Bloom. She was so full of determination, and even if the course appeared difficult, Bloom made it look almost effortless. Ms Faragonda snapped her fingers once more, and the huge boulder of ice from every previous demonstration began to materialize above Bloom. She screamed once she saw the boulder falling down towards her, and raised her hands to brace herself. She threw a blast of magic fire towards it, destroying it with a gigantic explosion. The rest of the Winx and I had amazed expression on our faces for a split second before cheering happily. I gave Musa a high five as Stella and Flora raised their hands joyously for Bloom's success in the obstacle course.

"Settle down, girls," Mrs Faragonda told our group, "excellent performance, Bloom, return to your seat. Next please!" With the headmistres's instructions, Bloom de-transformed and walked back to join us. A few more fairies went up to take their turns, and then Musa, Stella and Flora were up after that. Once Flora completed her demonstration on the obstacle course, Mrs Faragonda looked in my direction.

"Tecna, it's your turn to go." She told me warmly, I had a feeling that she waited until the last minute to let me have my turn. I still knew that despite her confidence to give me a chance to get stronger, she was still very hesitant to have me participate, and as humiliating as it was to admit, I understood why. So I walked up toward the middle of the obstacle course and transformed into my Magic Winx form, and just like Bloom, stared at the the rose within the magic orb.

"Okay I'm ready, Ms Faragonda." I breathed, she snapped her fingers like before as the lights appeared around me. As with Bloom and the other students before me, I began to dodge them, remembering perfecting this for weeks during the battle classes with Alfea"s headmistress. It occurred to me that I was definitely not as fast at avoiding the spotlights as the rest of my thoughts classmates were, however that didn't stop me from trying my best. Suddenly the lights began to get a bit too close for my comfort, I flew frantically through the air, trying not to get hit by them. Getting very close to my target, the spotlights surrounded me, I was almost about to grab the orb, when suddenly the lights caught up to me, and before I could react, I was falling o the ground, drifting into unconsciousness once I was hit by the impact.

* * *

My eyes opened, and I squinted to get used to the light again. My head hurt tremendously and I didn't want to move at all. Ms Faragonda was looking down at me with great concern. As I began to look around, I realized that I was in the infirmary, and Nurse Ophelia was dipping a cloth in cool water. I groaned once more and turned to my side.

"How in the Magical Dimension could I not think this was going to happen?" Ms Faragonda was sitting with her hands buried in her face, whispering softly, "This just tells me that you'll have to resume your one on one training classes with me." I wanted to

talk, but I just lay there confused and once again humiliated.

"Wh-what happened?" I inquired groggily.

"As soon as you were knocked out, the rest of your friends wanted to come to make sure you were all right. I told them they could see you when you were ready." Ms Faragonda explained, "You definitely took a serious blow." Knowing that my friends have seen exactly just how weak I was as a fairy on the battlefield, the humiliation and worthlessness only increased. Not only did the rest of the Winx see how easily I could be knocked out, but the entire class of freshmen fairies as well. Even those fairies who didn't particularly live up to the name of doing good for the Magical Dimension, which only made me begin to worry that this could cause me to be the school's biggest joke. Usually this was expected of students residing at Cloudtower, they were known for humiliating their other classmates daily, but here at Alfea I knew that Mrs. Faragonda wouldn't tolerate such behaviour. Though that didn't mean a few of my classmates wouldn't slip through the cracks, that was what I was most afraid of.

"Stay still, Tecna, this will help the headache." Nurse Ophelia replied gently as she placed the cool cloth on my forehead, "From what I can see, you are far too weak right now to stand up. I think it's best that you stay here for a little while longer so I can keep an eye on you. Then you can return to your dorm and rest even longer if you have to." This didn't make any sense to me, why had the impact that I was exposed to be so strong that it is now causing me to have this spitting headache? I felt even worse than when I woke up after Stormy knocked me out not too long ago, at least then I was able to get to the Red Fountain ship without too much assistance.

"I don't understand it." I groaned painfully, "This has been the worst result from any battle experience I've ever had. Being away from Zenith, shouldn't I be stronger by now?"

"Tecna, this is a whole new semester, that obstacle course was a test of everything the others have learned from their training. Since you were focusing on the basics of defence, there was a lot more they've learned compared to you." She told me, "Even I didn't expect this to happen to you. As I said before, I would have never allowed you to do this If I knew you were going to get hurt." I sighed heavily.

"I know, Ms Faragonda, I remember." I moaned, "I just wish I wasn't so pathetic. Despite being homeschooled and not being compared to other average Zenithians, I was always known to excel in everything I do, now I know that isn't as true as I thought."

"You are not pathetic." Mrs. Faragonda reassured me, "Part of real life experiences is realizing that we aren't perfect, we can't be the best at everything, and every day is a new opportunity to learn something new. Even if you've had setbacks in self defence and battle skills, I have total faith that one day you'll be right there alongside your friends doing everything they do. It just takes more time for you. Now, rest some more, and Nurse Ophelia will be here if you need anything."

"Thank you." I replied quietly, as I turned to my side and closed my eyes. It was hard to fall asleep because of the headache, but I eventually drifted off to sleep again.

 **Timmy's Point of View**

During the semester break, since I didn't have to focus on schoolwork, I could devote all my time into my mission as a Fairy Protection Program secret agent. Once I returned to Red Fountain, I had a plan of action, now that midterms were over for both Tecna and myself, we had more time to hang out. The most important thing I had to remember was to keep my focus on the mission, I was determined to put every bit of my logical thinking into my job so I wouldn't get tongue tied and nervous around Tecna. That was the biggest thing that was holding me back from my mission, having to protect any woman, no matter who it was, was very intimidating. As usual, I was sitting at my computer desk while Sky was laying idly on his bed. Brandon left to go with Bloom to Magix an hour ago, and should be returning shortly. About five minutes later, the blonde entered our dorm, immediately walking towards me.

"Timmy, I really need your help," He began, "Bloom is looking for answers, she's discovered that her parents adopted her and she isn't from Earth. She believes the answers might be in the Cloudtower archives. I just need help getting her in there undetected."

"Are you crazy, man, do you know how much trouble you two could get in if you get caught by Ms. Griffin?" Sky protested worriedly, "Her punishments are far worse than Mrs. Faragonda's, at least the head of discipline only lets us off with a warning or a temporary suspension if it's more than a first offence."

"Geez, dude, you make it sound like we'd be breaking the law, we're not vandalizing the place." Brandon joked, "but joking aside, I said I'd help Bloom, and I never go back on my word. Please help me Timmy." He looked at me for a long period of time with a pleading expression on his face. I had my own mission to worry about, even if no one else knew about it, but I guess I could give Brandon a hand with his own mission.

"All right," I agreed finally, "just give me a few minutes and I should be able to download the architectural schematics of Cloudtower." As a secret agent, I had to know every inch of the three Magix schools, just in case they were needed. It didn't take even a minute before I had the diagrams up on my computer screen and ready to print out. I sat cross legged on the floor while Brandon sat on the opposite side of me, and Sky continued to lay on his bed.

"I knew Cloudtower was a pretty big school, but I wouldn't have guessed it'd be this big, it's on top of a gigantic mountain. How in the Magical Dimension am I suppose to get Bloom inside at all, never mind getting her in without being noticed? Isn't there any secret passages into the school from underground?"

"Yes, but they're all from the other schools and from Magix, and I know you don't want to get spotted by Ms. Griselda before being at risk of being caught by Griffin." I advised with an edge of concern in my voice.

"Right, so if I sneak Bloom out of Alfea, how am I able to get her into Cloudtower from the outside?" Brandon continued to ask me.

"Well, you can use your Wind Rider." I suggested hesitantly.

"But.., we're talking very high altitude here." He pointed out, looking at the maps I had printed out while scratching his chin in deep thought.

"No problem," I reassured my good friend, "just ride close to the wall, and zigzag all the way up." After examining the maps of Cloudtower carefully myself, I was instantly able to find a solution to Brandon's problem.

"And don't worry Sky, I'll be careful." He turned back to his best friend who was still giving him a look of complete disapproval from his bed.

"I know you'll be careful, but that's not the point," Sky prompted, "accidents happen, and in this case Brandon, an accident would result in a three hundred foot free fall." As the brunette spoke, he stood up off his bed, crossing his arms to emphasize the seriousness of his statement. Brandon just got up off the ground and walked over to his childhood best friend.

"Listen, I told Bloom I would help her, and I'll do it." He insisted, placing a hand on Sky's shoulder, "She needs me."

"Whatever, just don't say I didn't warn you." Sky pressed once more, but nothing was going to break Brandon's determination to help the redhead fairy.

"Well, do you want to go over this stuff again?" I offered, and thankfully the blonde turned his attention back to me.

"Sure thing, I do want to remember everything before I leave tonight." He got back onto the floor as we continued to discuss all the possible situations he could get into while sneaking into the school for witches. I was told that Cloudtower had a mind of its own and was able to trap intruders within its walls. Even if Bloom was still a basic form fairy, that still gave her and Brandon a bit more of an advantage with defence from magic obstacles.

"There is one thing I'm curious to find out when you get back," I told Brandon, "I want to know what you found out." Normally it wouldn't be any of my business to know about Bloom's past, but if Bloom does in fact hold some serious power, it could pose a danger to Tecna. I kept thinking of all the possible ways she could be caught in this mess, the encounter with Stormy and Icy being a prime example.

"Why, its not like we have any obligation to protect the Winx except for the fact that we'd help them out as friends." Unknown to Brandon, his statement struck me more than he intended, what could I tell him that would justify my curiosity?

"Just so we know what we might be up against, if we know more about Bloom's powers, we could be one step ahead of the Trix if they try to get their hands on her." That was the only explanation l come up with that would spark Brandon's concern for Bloom. I could tell that he cared about her a lot, and knowing the Trix would do anything for a way to conquer all of Magix, I definitely had to bring that to his attention. The immediate look of horror on the blonde's face was exactly what I expected.

"You're definitely right about that, but what would you need with that information?" He inquired.

"I'm the team's strategist," I reminded him with a proud smile, "I work behind the scenes and I can use the information you've gathered to figure out exactly how the Trix might want to take advantage of Bloom's discoveries." I continued to explain, on a very personal level I'd use this information to find out the origin of Bloom's powers so I can be aware if she could be a potential threat to Tecna's safety or not. Not that I was assuming anything bad about Bloom, but someone holding that great amount of power could easily be turned on to the side of evil, resulting in tragic events.

"That's a good enough reason for the both of us." Sky chimed in, "I care very deeply about Stella, and I'm sure you don't want Bloom in any danger as well, telling us what you found out during your mission could give us all an advantage."

"But what if Bloom doesn't want me to tell anyone, or what if she sees something I don't and won't tell me about it?" Brandon asked worriedly after a moment of deep consideration.

"Don't worry, bro, Bloom trusts you, she knows you'll keep any secrets she tells you." Sky reassured him, and without another word, he began packing some equipment for sneaking into the enormous school for witches. It wasn't until lights out that he left to get Bloom for their mission.

 **Tecna's Point of View**

A few hours later, I woke up once more, and surprisingly I was feeling much stronger than before. Looking out the window, I realized it was getting dark outside, and I didn't expect to have slept for that long.

"How are you feeling now, Tecna?" Nurse Ophelia asked as she came up to the bed with a tray of food from the school cafeteria, "I thought I'd bring you supper just in case you weren't feeling strong enough to go back to your dorm."

"I'm actually much stronger now that I've slept for a bit, thank you Nurse Ophelia." I told her as she gave the tray to me. After I had my dinner, I excused myself from the infirmary and returned to the freshman dormitories. When I opened the door, the common room was quiet, Stella had retreated to her bedroom, Flora was reading a book in one of the chairs and Musa had her earphones in, listening to music to pass the time. I had no idea where Bloom was but I had a feeling she was around here somewhere.

"Hey, Tecna," Flora was the first to greet me as my roommate pulled her earphones out, "I was getting really worried, how are you feeling now."

"No need to worry too much about me, Flora, I'm okay now." I reassured her, "I just had a bit of a headache from the impact."

"I'm glad you're okay, just take it easy for the rest of the night." Musa advised, I just nodded in acknowledgement to her concerns and went to the bedroom that we shared. I was actually just as well that it was only the first day of classes for the new semester, I didn't have the energy for schoolwork at the moment. I got ready for bed and thought about what Mrs. Faragonda told me earlier while I stared blankly at the ceiling. I just couldn't understand why I was just so weak compared to the rest of my classmates, I realized I had no real experience using my fairy wings like everyone else, but that didn't explain the fact that I didn't get stronger over time, I remained just as weak as I've ever been since I first started my one on one training with the Alfea headmistress. That's what was getting to me the most, and now it was causing me a lot of humiliation.

 **Timmy's Point of View**

Brandon didn't return from helping Bloom get into Cloudtower until about one in the morning, and I was determined to stay up to get the information I needed in order to make sure Tecna wasn't in any more danger than General Tyler and I originally thought. As Brandon entered our dorm, his face was full of fear and he didn't say a thing. All he could do was sit on his own bed, looking toward his best friend for a split second, Sky had fallen fast asleep a while ago. Then he just buried his face in his hands and stayed silent.

"Brandon.., it sounds bad, did Bloom tell you anything?" I asked him hesitantly, he looked like he was in no mood to talk about it, in fact it appeared that he might still be in shock from the new piece of information he received.

"She found out that she is a reincarnation of the three ancient witches who destroyed Domino, and once she becomes a true fairy, they'll return to take possession of her." Brandon admitted in a low voice, "She doesn't seem like the type of person to even want to be evil... But I suppose fate doesn't lie." Now I understood why he was so quiet when he came in the door, he was conflicted about his emotions towards Bloom, he was deeply concerned for her and at the same time he might find her dangerous if she ever used her powers for evil.

"If the Trix ever got ahold of this knowledge, they could be at a greater advantage if the power Bloom holds is already meant for evil purposes." I thought in a whisper. That wasn't the only issue, if Bloom decides to use her powers for evil on her own accord, she could put the rest of the school in danger, that is including Tecna, who is at greater risk of getting hurt than anyone else at Alfea.

"You're right, Timmy, but I know she doesn't want to be evil, that's my main concern." He told me, "I don't know how to help her now. I don't know what to do."

"I'm not entirely sure either, Brandon, but Bloom must be very scared right now, I would just give her some time to let it all sink in and then she can make her decision on what to do about it. But whatever she decides, there is really nothing we can do about it. This is her stuff."

"Hey, you're the one who wanted to know what she found out, and now your telling me it's none of our business." Brandon raised his voice slightly and I could hear Sky groan from his bed.

"We just need the information to know what could potentially happen, what Bloom decides to do next is her own choice." I clarified, "All you can do for her now is make sure she doesn't decide to hurt herself."

"Great," Brandon groaned, "thanks for scaring me."

"Sorry..." We both got ready to go to sleep in silence, if Bloom was indeed the reincarnation of the three witches, she could be quite dangerous no matter how her power is used, and I could just feel that if any evil forces wanted to possess her powers, they would spare absolutely no lives. Forgot trying to get to know about Tecna's life on Zenith, now I had to make sure that she would not get hurt while Bloom was fighting her own personal demons.

 **Tecna's Point of View**

The next morning, I woke up to frantic knocking on my bedroom door, and as I opened my eyes, I noticed Musa was already answering it for Flora, who looked very concerned when she came in our room.

"What's the matter, Flora?" She asked while I got out from under my blankets.

"Bloom's gone missing!" She exclaimed in a panic.

"What do you mean?" I asked her while picking out my usual attire for the day, only setting it on my bed for now.

"I looked in her bed this morning when I got up, and she was gone!" Flora continued, "she said something about going with Brandon to Cloudtower to get answers to her past.., and for some reason I guess she never returned."

"She could be in danger, we have to go look for her." I replied with slight concern in my voice. I was worried about Bloom, but I also knew she couldn't have gone too far from Alfea if she had been with Brandon, he would make sure she was safe.

"What about Stella?" Musa asked us, "shouldn't we wake her up and let her know about this?"

"Let her be, she'll need at least two more hours to 'beautify' herself." Flora advised us. So, after getting dressed, we quietly

walked out to Alfea's quad and transformed, then we began flying through the air, looking for Bloom.

"Okay, we'll split up, Tecna, you search the East wing, I'll search the West and Musa will check the rest of Alfea." Flora instructed.

"Here are some communicators so if we find Bloom, we can keep easy contact with each other." I made three little devices appear around our wrists with my magic, and then we went our separate ways to search for our friend. I met up an hour later with the girls and de-transformed without any word of Bloom's location.

"Any luck?" Flora asked us.

"No, no sign of her." I sighed.

"Not with me either." Musa told us, now this was a time for me to worry because we knew she was off campus grounds, and that meant anything could have happened to her.

"Do you think we should let Stella know and do another search in the forest?" Flora asked.

"No yet," Musa suggested, "I think we should call Brandon first, you said he took her to Cloudtower last night, he might know where Bloom is.

"Yes, she might even be safe and sound with him for all we know." Because Flora was such a caring friend, she had Brandon's number on speed-dial just in case something did happen to Bloom, she called him instantly and put us all on holo-speaker phone.

"Hi girls, is Bloom there with you?" He asked, he sounded slightly tired to me, and for some reason I could sense he was a bit shook up, but I didn't make that big of a note about it.

"No, she suddenly disappeared, she told me about your mission to take her to Cloudtower but she didn't come back." Flora told him frantically.

"Oh no!" Brandon gasped in complete horror when he heard what Flora had told him, "I dropped her off at Alfea's gates and I thought she went inside. Please let me know as soon as you find her, I.., I don't want to be the one responsible If anything happened to her."

"You made sure she got back to Alfea safely, that's all you could have done Brandon." Flora reassured him, "but why would she want to run away?"

"I think I might know the reason," Brandon continued, "in the Cloudtower archives we saw an old book that told Bloom that she was the incarnation of the three ancient witches who destroyed Domino. Once she found this out, she was really upset, all she told me was that it wasn't her fault and she didn't want it to happen. She insisted that I take her back to Alfea but I never thought she'd want to run away.., I should have stayed with her."

"Thank you for letting us know, Brandon, we'll be sure to let you know when we find her." I reassured him, the expression on his face was beyond fearful, I could tell he was very concerned for the redhead fire fairy..

"Thank you, girls." Brandon replied, and then the call ended, now we knew that Bloom was indeed off school grounds, and not with Brandon either, it was time to bring the whole team together for a full and thorough search.

"So now what, Bloom could be anywhere." Flora inquired, her voice growing more worried with every second.

"Now we get Stella, we need to find Bloom with everyone's contribution." I insisted, and without hesitation, we returned to our dorm and Flora began knocking wildly on Stella's door. After about a minute of knocking, she was let in.

"Ugh, am I _that_ late?" The blonde princess of Solaria asked irritably before closing the door behind her and Flora

"That's not why I'm here," I heard Flora tell Stella, "Bloom never came back last night."

"Oh, really?" Stella asked in surprise, it didn't sound like she was left out of the loop about where Bloom went. Being her best friend, Bloom would have wanted to tell Stella what she wanted to do. I suddenly opened the door and walked into Stella's huge single suite with Musa following behind me.

"Well, we looked high and low," I added Stella, "Bloom is nowhere to be found."

"We even talked to Brandon." Musa chimed in as we both sat down on the steps, "He said she brought her back here last night, the thing is she never entered the building. We've got to go look for her."

"What are we waiting for? There's no time to waste," Stella panicked, "Bloom could be in real trouble!" We ran back down the hallway through the school to the quad once again, and when we got there, we watched the trees to see if Bloom could be coming back, however she wasn't.

"We got a situation here," I pressed, if Bloom hadn't returned by now, her chances of being in real trouble were definite, " we've got to do something A.S.A.P!"

"Right," Flora agreed, "so..., the only way to find Bloom now is through our powers."

"Right!" Musa, Stella and I shouted in unison before the four of us transformed into our Magic Winx forms. It had been a while since we transformed as a group, I remembered the last time we did was before I was knocked out by Stormy in Magix when we were rescuing Musa. Considering being constantly reminded of just how weak I am compared to the other fairies, I hoped we didn't have to do too much fighting in order to get Bloom back safely.

"Now, let's get down to business," Stella began before a moment of silence as we heard the early morning wind blow through the trees , " okay, so which way are we going?"

"Easy," Flora answered her, "something has seen Bloom walk through here, and we're standing right on it."

"The grass?" I inquired with slight surprise.

"Smart thinking Flora." Musa added while Flora placed her hands in front of her, and her magic emerged from her fingertips.

"Golden Pollen!" She called out as the magic shot from her feet and hands, and the pollen dusted around every inch of the ground surrounding us. We were all amazed at what she had done, and laughed with awe as the magic created ripples on the forest floor, forming an arrow showing us which way Bloom went.

"Look everybody, Bloom went that way." Flora informed us as the arrow took form, "Grassy fields have an excellent memory."

"I'll generate an ultrasonic wave to probe the area." Musa told us as she began a highly concentrated hum, moving her arms outward to focus her sound powers. We could see small waves coming from her in all directions as she stood there scanning the forest for any sign of our redhead friend. In minutes, she stopped and opened her eyes, "Scanning complete."

"And now I'll analyze the data." I chimed in as Musa and I focused our powers to connect with each other in order for her to send the information she had collected to me, "All right, got it! The probe detected a life form, right here. The dot represents Bloom." I pointed to a yellowish green dot on the magical map that appeared from the palm of my hand.

"Woohoo! Now it's my turn to put in my two sense worth!" Stella shouted excitedly, "Through my sparkling beauty and sunny disposition! We shall see the light!"

"You done yet?" I asked her irritably, "Are you going to do it or what?"

"Of course," the spunky blonde princess giggled as she flew up into the air, "Rising Sun!" When she called out, her entire body began glowing like the sun so that we could find our way easier in the woods, "I'm shining light over the whole dark forest!" She announced, " See, I do have good ideas once in a while. I knew you'd need my help one of these days, I'm so beautiful and totally essential!" Oh Stella, your unintentional boasting will never get old,even if I sometimes find it conceded. We followed Stella as she lead us through the forests of Magix so we could find our good friend Bloom. Suddenly, we spotted her, which none other than the Trix. Things had definitely taken a turn for the worst when I realized those three had something to do with Bloom's strange disappearance last night.

"It's payback time, little Mirta, and it's going to hurt!" I heard Icy announce as she blasted Bloom with her ice powers. Someone else was also with her, and I assumed that had to be Mirta. The two girls huddle together as they were covered in the ice.

"Now all we have to do is destroy that beautiful little ice sculpture and rip the power right out of Bloom's heart," Icy continued wickedly as Stella began to form an attack in her hands, shooting it at the witch of ice, "It's over." Just then, she was shot back by Stella's attack as the sun princess stopped shinning.

"Who's that little girl?" Stella asked, looking at the girl who was with Bloom in the ice sculpture, "Leave them alone!" At the fairy of the sun and moon's command, she melted the ice to let Bloom and the girl free, and as the ice melted, we could see that Kiko was with them as well.

"You pesky little gnats!" Icy shouted furiously, "Agh I hate you!"

"You won't win this time!" The girl shot back.

"Chill out, sister," Stormy reassured Icy, "I'll settle this for you in a minute." She flew towards us with

her arms out stretched, and we began circling each other in mid air. Two tornadoes appeared in front of Stormy, and were headed right for us. We screamed and struggled to get way, however it was too late, we were tied up by some type of magic resistant rope, and Stormy continued circling us like pray.

"No!" Bloom shouted, throwing her hand out, and instantly transforming into her fairy form. Once her transformation was complete, she was about to fly out to help us out of our situation, however she was shot back by Darcy.

"Bloom!" The girl called out as the Trix began laughing triumphantly. The girls and I continued to struggle in our restraints as the tornadoes advanced towards us, we were completely screwed now, but I was glad the rest of the girls were stuck in the same situation I was so that I didn't look so pathetic on my own. The Trix continued to laugh while Bloom managed to got her bearings, and the girl accompanying her was getting angry as well. I did not know who she was or where she came from, but she knew who Bloom was, and wanted to help, so she must be someone we could trust. She stood up, and used her magic to create a huge monster in front of the three witches, causing them to lose concentration on keeping us held captive. It roared and startled the witches, and even us. We screamed, thinking it was coming for us, when it actually helped us get away. The tornadoes vanished, and the rope that restrained us loosened up. We gasped in relief when we realized that the monster was an illusion from the girl. Though, because of this little mishap, Stormy was beginning to get very pissed off, and considering her short temper, it was an extremely dangerous thing.

"Aww, she broke my concentration!" She whined.

"Not smart." Darcy hissed irritably.

"This is it, Mirta, I have had it with you!" Icy snapped, "You're a pain in the neck, you're a

bothersome little... Agh, a.., a bothersome little.., pumpkin? Why not?" A few seconds passed while the girl,

Mirta, stood there, until Icy shot her with a blast of her power. We all screamed to see what Icy was going to do to Mirta.

"No!" Bloom cried out, when suddenly the blast of power hit Mirta's feet and soared up above her head and back down, turning the girl into a pumpkin as Icy intended. The witches continued to laugh with triumph until they saw Bloom begin to fire up her own powers. She had her arms crossed, and her hair was blowing, being pushed back by the intensity of her energy. She groaned in frustration as fire surrounded her and her eyes widened. A bright light emerged from her body as a dragon

spirit flew through the air and exploded, making the Trix vanish with it. That blast of power must have transported them elsewhere, and it didn't matter to us where they ended up. Pepe the duck and Bloom's bunny Kiko were going at it, when Pepe

noticed Icy had disappeared, and ran off to go find her. The girls and I were flown backward, and the force of the magic caused us to de-transform in the process.

"Hey, we're all back to normal." Stella acknowledged as we found ourselves lying on the ground beside the pumpkin girl.

"What an amazing burst of power.' Musa thought, "Where's Bloom?" I got up off the ground, rubbing my head.

"She disappeared." I answered.

"Not again!" Stella wailed as she fell back down again.

"Yoohoo! I'm over here!" I heard Bloom's voice coming from the bushes as we all saw her arm

waving us over.

"Bloom!" I shouted, and Flora parted the bushes and we looked down to see our good friend on the ground.

"Great to see you again, girls." Bloom replied with a slight giggle.

"What in the world did you do to the witches?" I inquired, lifting her head in my arm supportively.

"Don't worry, Tecna," Bloom assured me, "they got their just desserts." As I was making sure that Bloom was okay, Flora ran over to where the girl was left there, stuck as a pumpkin.

"Who is that little girl?" Flora asked, she was now kneeling beside the girl.

"That's Mirta," Bloom explained, "she helped me."

"There's nothing we can do for her right now." Flora informed us sadly, "Icy's spell was black magic."

"Maybe we can find a way to break that spell." Musa thought.

"I'm sure we can, but for now, let's take her back to Alfea." Flora suggested with determination in her voice as we all walked back toward Alfea.

* * *

Once we got to the school for fairies, we headed inside before standing in the entrance room hesitantly.

"So, do you think we should tell Ms Faragonda about Mirta?" Flora asked, and we all agreed that it would be the best thing to do. There was no harm in letting the headmistress know that we were going to have another guest in our apartment for a little while, and who knows, she may have a spell that could turn Mirta back. As we went up to Ms Faragonda's office, Flora gently held Mirta in her arms while Bloom knocked on the door.

"Come in!" The Alfea headmistress answered, the Winx and I entered the office, and gathered around the desk.

"Ms Faragonda, there is something we need to tell you." Bloom began.

"Yes, this pumpkin I have in my arms, is actually a girl named Mirta." Flora added.

"She was defending us in the forest against the Trix when Icy turned her into a pumpkin." Musa continued to explain.

"The spell is black magic, so.., we were hoping that you'd know a way to undo it." Stella told the headmistress.

"Well, this is a chance for you girls to expand your powers more, I could give you girls the easy way out by giving you an antidote spell, but you wouldn't learn anything by it." Ms Faragonda told us seriously.

"But we didn't do anything that needed a consequence, we were simply out searching for Bloom." Stella protested, and just when she opened her mouth, the Solarian Princess just caused us a lot of trouble. However Bloom was willing to admit what she had done.

"Stella's right, I ran away after sneaking into Cloudtower a second time to find out more about my past and my powers. I was told by what I thought was one of the lost books that contains the answers to everything, that I was the incarnation of the three ancient witches that destroyed Domino. Though it turns out that it was just a scheme by the Trix. They made me think I was a threat to the whole Magic Dimension, so I want to go to Magix to go home. That's when I met Mirta, she's the one who told me the truth and helped us fend off the witches.., but at a costly price." Bloom confessed.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk," Ms Faragonda shook her head in disapproval, "So those witches took the opportunity to mislead you when you had so many doubts about your past, and now this young girl was caught up in this whole mess."

"Yes, Ms Faragonda." Bloom answered, lowering her head in shame.

"Do you think things would be better if you hadn't gone to Cloudtower?" The headmistress advised Bloom.

"Yes, I do." Bloom agreed with a sad sigh.

"There, now you girls can try to figure out how to turn Mirta back on your own." Ms Faragonda confirmed, "I wouldn't have made you do this by yourselves if I knew you weren't able to do it. I have faith in you girls. And do not hesitate to ask for help, but remember that you're the ones who have to do this on your own."

"I will do whatever it takes to help Mirta return to normal." Flora told the rest of us with fierce determination.

"But Flora, Mirta got into this because I went to Cloudtower. If I hadn't gone, she would still be a girl." Bloom protested.

"You can help me find a counter-spell." Flora encouraged her, "It'll be a team effort."

"Thank you, Flora." Bloom replied with a small smile. For the rest of the day, Bloom and Flora searched the school library to find an antidote to turn Mirta back to her human form, and the rest of us were relieved that Bloom was back with us at Alfea. After talking with Mrs. Faragonda, Stella called Brandon back to tell him that Bloom was safe, although she also advised him that Bloom would have to talk to him on her own terms and that might take a while. It was unfortunate but the shock on Brandon's face looked very clear to us and probably wouldn't die down any time soon. Though that was Bloom's choice, and she would speak to Brandon when she felt she was ready, all I was ever concerned about was that she was safe and not being led into traps set by the Trix.


	15. Honour Above All

**Winx Club Episode Dialogue (c) Iginio Straffi And Rainbow S.r.l**

* * *

 **Chapter Fifteen: Honour Above All**

 **Timmy's Point of View**

Over the past couple of weeks, I'd been hesitant to call Tecna, she still had the video game I lent her, and I was planning on going to Alfea to play it with her at some point. The main objective of this was to gain as much information about Tecna as I possibly could without her suspecting a thing. I already knew from General Tyler that she doesn't remember going to any doctors in her life, which made sense to me after seeing how quickly she was knocked out by Stormy. What I needed to find out now was if she did have any unknown medical conditions to be worried about. Not being checked over in years, or even ever, her immune system must be incredibly weak, and my original mission is to keep her from any danger, this could put her in even more danger than we first expected. Now was my chance, I had to message her and see when she was able to play the game with me, I remembered our last conversation about how the Trix sabotaged Bloom's midterm in the simulator, now I knew why they wanted to do that so badly. If Bloom was in fact the incarnation of the three ancestral witches who destroyed the realm of Domino, the Trix would want to stop at nothing to get to her, and spare no one in the process, including Tecna. Remembering just how important this was, I held my breath and began typing my message.

 **Timmy:** Hey Tecna, how far have you gotten in that game I lent you before midterms?

There was a few minutes without any response before a typing icon popped up on the screen, indicating she was writing back.

 **Tecna:** ActuallyItotally forgot about it right before midterms. I had to study for everything and with the simulator down we had that delay. Then I didn't take it with me during semester break. So I'm a bit rusty.

 **Timmy:** No worries. Do you have time soon and I could come over so I could bring you up to speed?

 **Tecna:** Okay, how about on Friday? I usually don't study as hard over the weekends and I can have more free time.

Friday was only a few days away, it was better than nothing and I would hope that I didn't get too distracted by playing the game that I couldn't focus on the original purpose for being there.

 **Timmy:** Friday sounds great, see you then.

And as the conversation ended, I leaned back in my desk chair satisfied that I got up the balls to ask if I could play the game with Tecna. Of course it wouldn't be too intimate, Musa would be hanging around, and I would assume the rest of the Winx would be in the dorm doing something else.., it wasn't like they were going to leave us alone? Right? Suddenly I began having second thoughts, but quickly pushed them to the back of my mind as I focused on why I was doing this in the first place. I was a Fairy Protection Program secret agent, this was my mission, to protect the fairy I was assigned by any means necessary, even if it meant posing as a potential friend.

 **Tecna's Point of View**

During the first few weeks of classes in the new semester, Ms. Faragonda was finally informed of the outcome of the hearing that took place not too long ago. However she had to dismiss me from my last class of the day in order to have the private conversation with me. Just like many times before, I sat across from her desk in one of the chairs, awaiting what she had to say.

"The judge and jury didn't waste their time trying to find any other of your relatives." She began seriously, "unfortunately in any of your records based on the information I gave them, you don't have any that are willing to take you in."

"But that makes absolutely no sense," I thought, "I should have a few relatives in Zenith, or at least surrounding technology based realms."

"They traced your name and Magic Security Number back to Zenith, they found a few relatives, and were able to locate them." Headmistress Faragonda clarified, "However none of them really had heard of you, nor could they afford to take you into their care."

"So.., what does this mean?" I inquired hesitantly.

"It means, Tecna, that because the judge and jury have made all their possible connections and have gathered all the information they can find for our case, they can finally grant me the title of your legal guardian under the laws of Magix." She declared happily, though the knowing smile suddenly vanished, "Unfortunately this law has no effect on you while you are on Zenith, until Dr. Tonson is convicted of his abuse towards you by Zenith's authorities, he still has legal custody of you. That to me is a terrifying thought, and I really do hope that you don't have to go back there any time soon."

"I have no intention of doing that." I reassured my headmistress, "Despite some surprising discoveries about myself, my life in Magix has honestly been the best thing to ever happen to me. I want to thank you again so much for taking the responsibility of being my legal guardian on top of being the headmistress of the most realm renowned college for fairies."

"How many times must I have to reassure you that taking on this huge responsibility was my decision. Yes I did feel obligated to do it, but only because I knew that there was something wasn't right and I found it in your best interest to do anything in my power to help. I honestly didn't think it would come to this, but I have said this before and you definitely need all the help you can get. You haven't even seen a doctor for Great Dragon's sake, if it weren't for the fact that I can't do anything for you in Zenith, I'd have the death penalty put on that man, abusing and neglecting an innocent young woman is horrible beyond words-" before Ms. Faragonda could continue, I had to immediately stop her.

"I get it." I interrupted her abruptly, she stopped mid sentence and stared into the fearful look in my eyes.

"I'm sorry Tecna.., I didn't mean to bring those memories up, this is very frightening for you but I just can't stand to know that one of my students is suffering this way. That's why I did this, I don't want to see my students suffer." She replied sadly. Our eyes met for a moment, and another emotion rushed over me, it was the same feeling I got while staying at her house for semester break, all these feelings were hard to describe with words. After the silence, i was dismissed from her office and returned to the dorm. As I walked in, I saw Flora attempting to return Mirta back to her human form, and the rest of the girls huddled around her to help. They turned to see me enter the room.

"Hey Tecna, so we have a pop quiz in Professor Wizgiz's class tomorrow." Musa told me.

"Thanks, Musa." I replied, picking up my homework from the coffee table. Wonderful, now I had to go study in my room, even if I was already prepared for it. I was just about to walk away to my room to go study when the girls stopped me.

"Did you see Bloom with Ms Griselda coming down to Ms Faragonda's office while you were down there?" Flora asked.

"No, why?" I inquired.

"She got in trouble for falling asleep in Professor Wizgiz's class." Stella answered me. I knew that she wasn't in trouble, but everyone else seemed to think so, am I assumed that Ms Faragonda didn't want me to tell the rest of the girls until Bloom was ready to do it herself.

"Well, she has bee having many rough nights lately," I thought out loud, "and all because of the same dream where she sees that same woman over and over." I just hoped that the information that Ms Faragonda gives Bloom helps ease the dreams a little, and gives her more of an identification of the woman. All we knew now is that she was Daphne, the nymph, but how was she connected to Bloom? That was something Bloom was trying to figure out.

"I'm wondering what Daphne is trying to tell Bloom," Flora replied, "because these dreams are draining her."

"We know," Stella added, "and it's keeping us up too."

"Stella, she's trying to discover what her powers are, who she really is, it's difficult for her because she hasn't used her powers up until now and doesn't know anything about them. She can't help it if her powers are awakened in her dreams." Musa scolded her.

"Yeah I suppose so," Stella sighed, " though I wish it wouldn't keep us up at night.

"Oh come on Stella, wear earplugs!" Musa shouted.

"Hey girls I am trying to concentrate on Mirta." Flora interrupted, raising her voice just a bit.

"Sorry, Flora." Musa and Stella replied.

"So how far have you gotten on that?" Stella asked.

"Not very far," Flora sighed sadly, "but I'm not giving up."

"That's the spirit, Flora!" I encouraged her as we gathered around the table where Mirta was placed.

"Okay, let's try this, I hope it works." Flora breathed nervously, "Dancing smoke, out of my hands, new life invoke, obey my commands!"

"If you ask me, this smoke doesn't look very wholesome." Stella thought as Kiko began sniffing the air, causing him to sneeze.

"Well, by the look of things, I'd say it didn't work, did it?" I asked, unfortunately I was right, the smoke died down only to reveal that Mirta was still a pumpkin sitting on our table. Flora continued circling her hands above her, desperately trying to conjure up more of her strongest nature magic.

"What kind of fairy are you anyway Flora, you can't even bring Mirta back from her pumpkin state?" Musa asked her irritably. The music fairy's discouraging comment suddenly distracted Flora from her concentration on Mirta, and she snapped her attention towards Musa.

"And you can't even tell a pumpkin from a carrot!" Flora shot back, this was something she almost never did. She was never known to raise her voice at anybody and always remained able to resolve problems without arguing or fighting. That was something I was continuously learning from her and with my preferred way of thinking logically, I found it very effective.

"Try me!" Musa resumed shouting back at the nature loving fairy.

"Ugh!" Flora scoffed, "Yeah, maybe I should!" While Musa and Flora were arguing, I noticed Kiko slowly hop toward Mirta, attempting to take a big bite out of her leaves before I stopped him.

"And you better stay out of the way." I warned Bloom's small bunny. He immediately jumped back as Mirta's leaves began to move in order to defend herself.

"Oh, don't worry Tecna," Flora reassured me, "Mirta can take care of herself." I watched Mirta wrap her leaves around Kiko's ears and picked him up. Kiko just had an innocent grin on his face as Mirta continued to hold him in the air by his ears. Musa and Flora stopped arguing to watch, moments before turning to the main door to see Bloom finally enter the room, completely exhausted.

"We were trying to transform Mirta the pumpkin back into Mirta the girl," Flora explained to Bloom as the redhead joined us, "but Icy's spell is very owerful."

"I suggest you all take a break, because I have something to show you." Bloom informed us with a smile, "The answers to tomorrow's pop quiz!"

"What!" We all gasped in unison with complete surprise.

"I saw Professor Wizgiz in the hallway while I was heading back to the dorms and he was looking for something in his bag." Bloom explained, "Then it flew out of when he wasn't looking, when I tried to get his attention to give it back to him, he just vanished. So I thought it'd be better to bring it back here so no one else finds it."

"I don't think that was such a good idea." I advised her, sitting down at the couch as the rest of the girls followed. Stella and Bloom sat on either chair after Bloom put the envelope containing the answers to the quiz on the table. There was a small analogue clock in the middle of the table, and we sat in silence as it ticked away. After twenty-five minutes of staring at the small envelope, we sighed.

"I did so poorly on Palladium's exam that I really can't afford to flunk this one." Stella finally spoke after all that time of silence. She attempted to open the envelope with her sun powers, "I think fate is lending me a hand."

"Uh, Stella, don't even think of it," I slightly scolded the Princess of Solaria as she abruptly stopped, " if you look into the envelope for the answers to the quiz, that's cheating."

"I know, but it would help me raise my grade average." Stella protested.

"If you were to cheat to get a good mark, you wouldn't feel good about it." Flora emphasized, again stressing the point I was making.

"Says who? I won't know until I try." Stella replied, leaning over the coffee table.

"I think it would've been better if you'd left the envelope where it was." Musa piped in sharply, pointing towards Bloom, "The temptation to open it is just too much."

"We've got to decide what we're going to do with it." Bloom declared, and so we continued to stare at the envelope with total concentration on a unanimous decision on how to resolve this matter.

"Hey I've got an idea!" Stella began, "We could read the answers and then pass them on to the rest of the class!" Was she serious, how was that suppose to solve anything? All it would do is get everyone in trouble, not just our group.

"Right, that way everyone will have them and we'll be all be in trouble." Flora answered sarcastically, voicing my thoughts exactly.

"So, what do you suggest, Flora?" Stella asked her.

"Forget the envelope, and hit the books!" Flora told her.

"Before I hit the books I think.., I'll hit the hey!" Musa replied with a huge yawn and a stretch.

"Someone's already beat you to it Musa," I stated quietly, pointed to our redhead friend in the chair, "Bloom's already sawing logs." I learned the form of expression from the fire fairy herself, it was suppose to imitate the sound someone made while they were snoring, and we noticed that Bloom was snoring quite loudly.

"Where are you? Who are you?" In a couple minutes, Bloom began shouting these questions in her sleep, we could only assume that Daphne was trying to communicate with her through her dreams again. Sudden, there was a knock on our door.

"Girls, it's Ms Griselda, Ms Faragonda and I need to speak to Bloom." The head of discipline's voice called from out in the hallway.

"Come in, Ms Griselda." Flora answered quietly as she entered our room. The girls and I knew she would not be too happy to see that Bloom had fallen asleep again.

"I'm coming, but where are you!" Bloom continued to call out in her sleep.

"She's asleep again?" Ms Griselda questioned, "Bloom.., Bloom!" After a few calls of her name, Bloom was wide awake. Kiko, who had drifted off to sleep right along with his owner, fell off the chair and began to tremble on the floor. He was no exception when it came to fearing the scolding stare of Ms. Griselda, it meant something very serious..

"Bloom, the principal wants to see you." Ms Griselda informed her, and she stood up to follow the heard of discipline out the door and down to Mrs. Faragonda's office

"What's going to happen, I've never seen Griselda looking so serious?" Flora asked me in a whisper.

"She must've found out about the envelope." I answered her back just as quietly. There were concerned mumbles from the rest of the girls as Bloom walked away hesitantly with Ms Griselda.

"Well, let's just go study," Flora suggested, "we need to keep our minds off that envelope."

* * *

After about half an hour of studying, we walked out of our rooms to see if Bloom had returned.

"Still no sign of Bloom, hey?" Stella asked.

"Nope, not yet." Flora told us.

"Here she comes now!" I pointed out as the redhead fairy of fire entered the room. The expression on her face looked very puzzled, if Ms Griselda and Ms Faragonda found out about the envelope containing the answers to Professor Wizgiz's quiz, we'd be in a download of trouble. All wanting to know what the headmistress and head of discipline had to say to Bloom, we ganged up around her.

"What's the matter?" She asked with a slight sigh.

"Did you get expelled?" Stella was the first to ask her question, and the rest of us followed abruptly afterwards.

"How did they find out about the envelope?" I inquired after the blonde princess of Solaria.

"Did they say anything about us being in on it?" Musa piped in as the endless questioning continued.

"Did they cancel tomorrow's quiz?" Flora was the last to ask her question. After aa second of stunned silence, Bloom burst out laughing.

"Relax, they don't know anything." She told us.

"Nothing, huh, so why did they want to talk to you?" Stella asked.

"By all accounts, Ms Faragonda has more to say about my behaviour in class this morning." Bloom explained as she walked ahead of us into the common room.

"No way, it was no biggie, you just fell asleep." Musa thought.

"No kidding, and now we got another problem," Bloom replied, "what to do with Wizgiz's envelope." Flora and Musa just stared at her for a minute before the nature fairy spoke up.

"What have I been saying all day? Let's just ignore the envelope and study the way we're meant to study." She emphasized exasperatedly.

"And I've said it's too much of a temptation!" Musa added irritably.

"I'm with Flora," I replied, "as long as we ignore it, the temptation will at least be minimized. We'll be so busy studying we'll forget that the envelope is even there. Then before the quiz, we can return it unopened."

"Fine, but I think Musa has a point too, how in the Magical Dimension are we supposed to ignore the temptation if it's staring us right in the face, calling us? Open me, open me, you know you want to!" Stella asked.

"Let's just forget about the Great Dragon damn envelope!" Musa replied loudly.

"Bloom, what do you think?" Stella asked, "Bloom?" But our redhead friend seemed to be deep in thought about something other than the envelope, not even Musa's outburst seemed to break her from it. When Stella called her name, she snapped out of her train of thought and was back into the conversation.

"Sorry girls, I just need some time alone to think about something." She told us as she left for the room she shared with Flora. That left the four of us to think about how we were going to study.

"Tecna, do you want to study with me?" Flora asked, "Since I think Bloom might want some space."

"Sure," I answered, "We both agreed that the busier we are studying, the more we wouldn't think about the envelope."

"And if you want, Musa, we can study out on the quad." Stella suggested, "We won't even see that blasted envelope. Out of sight, out of mind."

"I guess, it's better then nothing." The fairy of music and the princess of Solaria departed from our dorm as Flora and I decided to get our books and study in my room. Time passed quite quickly as we became so engaged in our schoolwork.

"It's been a few hours, do you think we have all this stuff memorized?" My nature loving friend acknowledged as she saw the time on the digital clock beside my bed.

"I think so, I'd say we make a good study team." I replied with a slight chuckle while packing up my books. Flora and I returned back into the common room, and there was the envelope, sitting on the coffee table, untouched. Suddenly we heard Bloom's bedroom door open.

"I can't do it," Bloom began as she walked out, "I can't keep my mind off the envelope."

"We managed to take our minds off it for a little while, but we've studied enough and now there's nothing else we can do to ignore it." Flora sighed.

"We have to find a solution to this or we'll never get it off our minds." I added, then we heard Musa and Stella come back.

"So, has anyone conquered that nasty beast of temptation from that envelope yet?" Stella inquired jokingly.

"Studying helped, but not for too long. It is still right in our faces." I admitted dully, I would have never guessed that I would be caught in a situation that involved cheating on a test. Though I never would have thought of many situations I've been in since I came to Alfea. I thought I'd be stronger than this.

"Well, if it's too much of a problem for everyone, we should just hide it." Bloom suggested. As group, we decided to hide the envelope in the school's kitchen. After dinner, while the rest of Alfea's students continued their homework for the evening, the girls and I snuck down to the kitchen quietly, hopefully we wouldn't be seen. As we reached the kitchen, Stella eyed the door fiercely.

"Stop, there's a danger sign on that door." She warned us she backed away from the kitchen doors.

"That sign means kitchen." Musa corrected her.

"We haven't seen anyone yet." Flora whispered.

"Let's hide the envelope.., in the pantry, if any one of us can't resist the urge to peak, she could do it... without anyone ever finding out." Bloom explained as Stella gasped and looked at her with guilt, she knew that Bloom could tell she was the one who was the most prone to temptation.

"And if one of us get a higher mark than the rest, they'll have no reason to question it." Musa added.

"This is a very tough choice," I stated simply, "for all of us."

"You got that right." Flora agreed as we placed our hands one by one in a circle. We made this deal right then and there, and there would be no questions asked and no pointing fingers if any one of us did decide to cheat. So, we went into the kitchen, and began searching for the perfect place to hide the envelope. Musa and Flora looked in the overhead cupboards while Bloom looked in the pantry, and Stella and I looked in the cupboards below. I stood up after I deciding there wasn't a decent spot to hide it. I turned to see Bloom search the unorganized pantry.

"I always though of fairies as.., creatures of pure spirit, but.., looking at this mountain of yummy Food-" She began.

"Focus Bloom, we're on a mission." I reminded her.

"Hmm, what would be the best place to hide the envelope?" Musa thought.

"I don't know," Flora answered, "maybe with the food."

"And what if Mistro Spolia finds it tomorrow by accident?" Bloom inquired, "While he's preparing breakfast?" Stella then walked over to a basket full of purple turnips.

"Hey, let's put it with the turnips," She suggested, " _nobody_ likes turnips." However, by the look on Flora's face, she could strongly disagree.

"Speak for yourself," She retorted, "turnips are really good."

"But no one eats them for breakfast," Bloom replied, "and the envelope will be back in the hands of Professor Wizgiz by lunchtime."

"Unless our friend Miss Tuber here feels like a bowl of turnips tomorrow morning." Stella replied sharply, referring to Flora, who just huffed.

"Stella, that's enough," Bloom scolded, "but it is a good idea. We'll hide it there." And so, Bloom put the envelope in with the turnips and we walked quietly out of the kitchen. Thankful we weren't spotted by any of the school faculty.

* * *

That night after the girls and I studied a bit more,I tried to fall asleep, however I began tossing restlessly. I still couldn't keep my mind off the envelope and I know it was wrong to cheat on a test.

" _Come on, Tecna, don't let the temptation get to you. This is so illogical!_ " I thought to myself as I lay wide awake under my blanket. After about fifteen more minutes of contemplating rather to go look into the envelope, I gave up and sat up in bed. I stared over at Musa, who looked like she was still sleeping, and I slowly and quietly snuck out of bed and tip-toed out of the door. I crept toward the seating area of our common room, making sure I didn't make a sound. I hide behind the couch, and peaked my head out for a moment to see if anyone spotted me, but I saw no one. I waited for a minute before moving as quickly as I possibly could to the door of our dorm and down the hallway. Once I reached the kitchen, I saw shadows against the wall, but as logical as I was, I knew they must have been only figments of my imagination, so I continued on my mission, hiding behind a stack of plates that were left by the stove. Moments later, I crept by the island of the kitchen, and when I turned the corner I felt something soft against my bare legs, but I ignored it and resumed doing what I came to do. I continued to sneak around the island when suddenly the lights in the kitchen flicker on. Chances were that it was Ms Griselda doing the nightly rounds, or Mistro Spolia might have forgotten to do something. I turned to see who turned on the lights, and when I went to stand up, I fell backward right on top of the garbage can. Good thing the garbage was taken out every day after dinner. I realized Musa had been in the kitchen too as the pantry door swung open to reveal her hiding place. As it turns out, all the girls had decided to sneak out to the kitchen to get their hands on the envelope, and Bloom was the one who turned on the lights. I could only guess that she knew all along we couldn't resist the chance to cheat. After a second, she couldn't help but try and hide in a giggle, that turned into hysterical laughter.

"You should see the look on your faces." She continued to laugh, and we began to laugh with her. Once we caught our breath, we all looked at each other in surprise.

"So, I guess we all wanted the answers." Flora sighed.

"I suppose so." I replied shamefully with a hint fatigue in my voice.

"Well, this idea sure didn't work, we should take the envelope back to our dormitory before we get caught in here." Bloom suggested. The Winx and I walked back to our dorm and into Bloom and Flora's bedroom.

"This is it, we'll leave it here until we give it back to Wizgiz tomorrow." Flora told us as she put the envelope in a drawer in her nightstand.

"I really don't want to cheat, but.., I only studied a little bit." Stella confessed.

"What do you expect? We're too honest." Musa emphasized.

"Good night then." Stella responded with the same tone as Musa had as the rest of us began to leave Bloom and Flora's room.

"See you in the morning." Musa replied.

* * *

The next day, the girls and I stood at the door to Professor Wizgiz's class, all worried about what he'd say about the envelope. We had a good point that as much as the temptation was right in our faces, none of us gave in to the pressure.

"I can't go in there," Musa protested with a deep breath, "I'm too scared."

"Oh, please, give us a break, we all know you're a straight A student." Flora teased her with a hint of encouragement in her tone.

"It's true, I did study but.., I've always hated those pop quizzes." The music loving fairy continued to complain.

"Give it up, you two," Bloom interrupted, "you always complain the loudest, and in the end whoThe gets the best marks? Musa and Flora." Just the reminder that Musa and Flora had the best grades out of the five of us made me feel another unfamiliar emotion, I've felt it before while I was watching my classmates go through the obstacle course. It was the feeling associated with wishing I was just as good as everyone else when it came to the classes that involved physical fitness and strength, something I could never achieve.

"Girls, we're already late," I interrupted them, shrugging the feeling of inadequacy off, " Let's go in, or they'll start without us." I opened the classroom door, but stopped dead in my tracks when I saw something completely unexpected. I stared for a split second before Stella pushed me into the room, and Flora peeked behind her.

"Hey, why did you stop?" She asked from behind us.

"Look." I answered as we glanced around the classroom to see that everyone's faces were covered in some sort of dirt, as if it had exploded on them.

"What happened?" Flora continued her question.

"I have no idea, but this promises to be a fun class." Bloom replied with a laugh. However our

classmate Ameryl was not too amused, letting out a huff of disgust, As the girls and I went to our seats and the class settled, Professor Wizgiz entered the room.

"Oh well. Well, well," He began with a big grin, jumping on his desk as everyone in the room

gasped in confusion, "everything is going according to plan."

"But, what do you mean 'according to plan?'" Ameryl asked, banging her fists on her desk angrily.

"Ameryl, please, sit down," Professor Wizgiz instructed calmly, "I'll explain everything." Flora and Bloom looked at each other before Flora stood up, about to notify the teacher about the envelope we found.

"Um, Professor Wizgiz, yesterday we found this envelope and, uh.., we thought that.., perhaps you had lost it." She told him as she handed it over to the teacher. As she handed it to him, worrisome murmurs spread throughout the students.

"Thank you, actually, it is mine." He told everyone, "And now, I'd like to open it in front of all of you." Just the suggestion, and Professor Wizgiz beginning to open the envelope made everyone in the class begin to brace themselves, for something. The rest of the class must be expecting whatever was covering their faces to explode from the envelope that Flora just gave to the teacher.

"What's the matter with you, it's just an envelope, why are you so afraid?" Professor Wizgiz questioned his students. I turned to Musa as they continued to nervously murmur.

"Something strange is going on here." I whispered to her, and she just nodded in agreement.

"I don't understand why you're all so nervous." Professor Wizgiz replied as he suddenly ripped open the envelope and the class shrieked in surprise. Instead of what they thought was the muddy substance on their faces, it turned out to be just a sparkle of light that came from the envelope.

"Oh no!" I heard someone cry out as everyone in the room quieted.

"Very well, now that we're finished our quiz, we can go ahead with our lesson." Professor Wizgiz informed us.

"What, that was the quiz!" Ameryl snapped.

"Clearly it was," The teacher explained with another amused grin on his face, "You all found one of my envelopes. Near your dorm rooms.., and you all thought it contained the answers to the quiz. Well, the results are now for us all to see, so judge for yourself rather you passed or not. Those who couldn't resist the temptation the temptation to open the envelope are wearing the consequences."

"I'm glad I ended up not opening it, no matter how much I was tempted to." Stella whispered, "I mean look, I know mud is said to be good for my skin but how embarrassing would it be to come to class covered in it.

"Oh Stella." I heard Bloom giggling from the seat behind the Princess of Solaria.

"Bloom, Stella, Musa, Tecna and Flora, could you please come to the front of the class?" Professor Wizgiz instructed, and we stood before the class.

"I'm so proud of you," He began telling us, "you all deserve the highest mark, A plus."

"Yes, I passed the quiz!" Stella squealed as she picked up the short leprechaun teacher, "Thanks Mr. Wizgiz!"Although, the blonde's arms slipped, and he flew out of her embrace. However he just got up and shrugged it off.

"Well, you've learned that the path to becoming a good fairy is a long one," he continued after clearing his throat, "but you're all still young and you all still possess the capacity to learn the importance of being honest, and in resisting temptation, or easy way outs. Being a good fairy is a role that carries great responsibility.., and consequently-." Professor Wizgiz was interrupted by clapping from the above balcony. It was Ms Griselda who wanted our attention and we turned abruptly to face her.

"One moment of your attention, please," She began sternly, "tomorrow, there will be a meeting in the auditorium. We'll discuss.., the agenda.., of our upcoming parent teacher meeting."

"Oh no, my parents, here at Alfea?" Suddenly Bloom began to panic, grasping on to my arm, "I've always hated these parent teacher meetings!" Why was she leaning on me of any one of the girls? That was because she nor the rest of the girls didn't know I had no parents to attend this meeting. Perhaps Ms. Faragonda would grant me an exception from this meeting considering she is secretly responsible for me under the laws of Magix. I was just glad to be done with all this envelope business, it was exhausting thinking about it all the time and now that it was dealt with, I could focus on other things. It did in fact teach us a valuable lesson which I could see providing to be quite useful in the future.

 **Timmy's Point of View**

It was now Friday, and I nervously made my way on my Wind Rider towards the school for fairies and up to the Winx Club's dorm room. I inhaled deeply before hesitating to knock on the door, and when I did, none other than the redhead fire fairy answered.

"Timmy, you're probably here to see Tecna." She observed, and as much as I wanted to investigate her too, to make sure I knew what potential threat Tecna could be up against, that was not why I was here, it would have to wait for another time, "She told us you'd be coming over."

"Hi, Timmy, I have the game set up in my room." Tecna rounded the corner from her bedroom when she most likely heard Bloom mention my name.

"You.., your room?" I stuttered, just the thoughts I had when I first asked to play the game with her, we'd be alone, in her bedroom. This was something I never thought would happen in my life, being in the bedroom of any woman, especially one as astonishing as Tecna. I tried desperately to concentrate on my mission, and hesitantly followed her into the room she shared with the pigtailed fairy of music. It was at that moment that said fairy of music asked her a question before we had completely left the common room.

"Do you want me to leave you two alone?" She offered.

"N.., no," I stuttered nervously, "you don't have to."

"It's okay, Musa, it's your bedroom too." Tecna insisted, and I fought the urge to let out a huge sigh of relief that we weren't going to be totally alone. Once I was in Tecna's room, all I could do was glance around at every marvel of advanced technology she ever owned or invented, it completely blew my mind what she was capable of, and yet I had no idea how she lived outside of Magix.

"You are allowed to sit on my bed, you know, it's not covered with plastic." I could tell she was trying to joke around, so I just chuckled shyly and obeyed. Tecna handed me one of the game controllers and started the game on her computer. A while after we got into it, she proposed something to me that made my thoughts go wild with the idea.

"Wouldn't this game be so much better in a simulated world, instead of sitting here using controllers, we could actually be our players." She suggested, this was incredible, it would be an entirely new take on my mission, it would give us a chance to spend time together working on this project and I could be under cover learning everything I can about her while I'm at it.

"We have the technology, well you do anyway." I laughed.

"But you know all the mechanics, you can teach me about all the hardware that's involved in such a project." She encouraged me, and I couldn't help but grin widely at her compliment, she obviously had seen me tinkering with the Owl before, she must know that I was the go to guy for that type of thing and I would love to use my expertise in a project working with her.

"And I'm sure you know everything about the programming and entering the coding to make it all happen." I returned the compliment, and she just smiled back at me.

"Yes, I do admit I dabble in writing code, how else would I get my inventions to operate?" I could sense that was another joke, or just a rhetorical question, either way I couldn't help but mentally kick myself. Of course she would have to know how to write her own code if she has made all these inventions.

"True." Was all I could say in response, we were still playing the game despite having our conversation, although we both seemed distracted with the plans we made. We continued playing for another half hour, and to my complete surprise, Tecna was better at playing than she thought. She had beaten the next level before I could.

"Yes!" She cheered riumphantly, "I won!" Just then, unexpectedly she hit her arm on the table beside her bed, the cry of pain that escaped her didn't seem to match the intensity of the impact. This was really concerning, usually wracking your arm didn't cause you to groan so loudly, the cry was as if she had been pushed roughly.

"Are you okay?" I asked her worriedly when I noticed she began to hold her arm at the spot where she hit it.

"Yeah, I'm all right." She insisted through gritted teeth, obviously the pain was much more than she wanted me to know about. This made me wonder what exactly was going on with Tecna, did this have to do with the fact that she hadn't seen a doctor for as long as she could remember? This might even be another missing piece to the main reason why I needed to protect her, and what I needed to protect her from.

"Are you sure, that did sound very painful." I pressed, my secret agent instincts kicking in, if I probed enough, I might get her to reveal some more information about herself that I needed in order to understand more of my overall mission.

"I'm fine!" She suddenly snapped, and just felt the need to back away from her, "I'm sorry, I'm just not used to anyone showing concern for me." This was exactly what I was trying to get her to do, open up to me enough for me to understand her. I just had to gain her trust, and manage to maintain it.

"Why not, didn't your parents make sure that you weren't getting hurt?" I continued to ask her, she suddenly shut off the game and returned sitting next to me on her bed.

"No, on Zenith, it's completely taboo for people to show their emotions." She confessed, "I'll admit that ever since I came to Magix, I've learned more and more about them. And sometimes.., these feelings are unexplainable, I can't describe them with words." I had no idea why Tecna felt so comfortable opening up to me about her feelings like this, but this was exactly what I needed to find out. I did some research on Zenith earlier, and in business environments and professional places, what Tecna had said about emotions being taboo was true, although I had no idea about what relationships in a typical Zenithian household were like. There was nothing to compare her statement with. We suddenly fell silent, sitting on her bed, both of us taking in what she just so boldly admitted, after a few minutes, the silence become slightly awkward. I felt the need to press a little more, the only thing was that I wasn't sure how to do it without crossing any boundaries, or having Tecna become suspicious of my constant questioning.

"Your life on Zenith.., must have been.., kind of lonely." I hesitated, "I mean.., uh, compared to living here that is."

"Well the thing is that before I came to Magix, I wouldn't have known any different." Tecna told me slowly, "loneliness was normal.., I guess." Her voice became quiet at this statement, as if there was more to her life than just loneliness, something in me could sense a twinge of hurt in her tone, although I could also tell she was trying desperately to hide it.

"Maybe on Zenith it's normal not to express emotions, but you're in Magix now." I reassured her, trying to ensure her that she could trust me with how she felt, "You're not going to be shunned for showing others how you feel." I had no intention of telling anyone else unless it was detrimental to her safety and wellbeing, and so far a lot of things I've learned about her were making me more and more interested as time went on.

"The girls and Ms Faragonda have told me the exact same thing, I guess it's just something to adjust to." Tecna sighed, "I had a fun time today, we should do this more often."

"Don't forgot you came up with that brilliant idea of turning the game into a simulated world." I reminded her with a slight hint of excitement at the prospect of working on this project with her.

"Right." We suddenly got off of her bed, and I made my way to the door, slowly.

"I better get going, it's around six thirty and I should really get back to Red Fountain." I insisted, "I'll see you soon, okay Tecna.., and um.., take care of that arm." As I left the Winx's common room, I said my goodbyes to the others. With what little information I gained from my visit with Tecna, it was more than enough to piece together more things about her and what my overall mission to protect her was.

 **Tecna's Point of View**

As the door closed shut behind me once Timmy left, I stood there in complete shock at how open and comfortable I felt revealing my emotions with him. It was as if something was telling me I could trust him, that he was in my life to ensure that I would be okay. It was as if that something was actually giving me permission to open up to him this way. I had never been so forward and honest with anyone about my feelings before, not even with the headmistress, she always had to drag them out of me, and look what happened when I did. Just because I expressed these emotions of total fear and terror, I was now placed in one on one battle training with Ms Faragonda, I had to expose my deepest darkest secret to a courtroom in order for Ms Faragonda to be my legal guardian, because apparently I'm not capable of taking care of myself! Now if I began spilling my feelings to Timmy, what would he think of me? What if I involuntarily revealed to him about Tonson's abuse? He was very close to finding out just fifteen minutes ago when I banged my arm on the table, the pain was absolutely unbearable but I couldn't let him know that. He would start to wonder why I was so damn sensitive, the last thing I needed was for anyone else to discover just how pathetically weak I am. I knew that the next time I saw Timmy, I would have to be a lot more careful about what I tell him. I continued to stand there letting in what just transpired over the past fifteen minutes while holding my arm to ease the pain, although like usual, it never helped. The sound of the bedroom door opening broke me from my thoughts as my music savvy roommate entered, crossing to her side with the room and collapsing on her own bed.

"So, it sounds like you two had a lot of fun." She hedged, trying to get me to talk about what happened.

"It was fun," I admitted, finally sitting on my own bed after another half a minute, "I'm hoping we can play again soon."

"So, what do you think about Timmy?" Musa pressed.

"He's a very good friend." Was all I had to say, "I still have more important things to think about then relationships."

"That's fair enough, but are you okay?" She suddenly inquired, "What did Timmy mean about taking care of your arm? And remember that I do have sonar hearing, I heard your cry from the common room." Damn it, why was I letting myself be so laid back, allowing myself to be comfortable sharing these things with everybody.

"I just hit it on my table, it was nothing." I insisted hastily, but the look on her face said that she wasn't buying it, "Even ask Timmy."

"It sounded way worse than just hitting your arm, it sounded like you dropped something hard on your toe." Musa continued to question me.

"It doesn't matter, Musa." I finally told her, and she paused as the room became silent, just like when Timmy was with me.

"Of course it matters, " She began quietly after a moment, "We care about you, Tecna." There was that word again, they care about me, why? The girls don't need to worry about me, I'd actually rather they didn't try and drag my emotions out of me, it was scary how much I had opened up to them since I met them. I was definitely changing and I wasn't sure how I felt about it, I couldn't tell whether it was a good thing or not. Everyone was reassuring me that it was healthy and normal for me to embrace my emotions, and that it was better than bottling them up inside. I was also told numerous times that I wasn't going to be alone while I lived in Magix, I was told by the other girls, by Ms. Faragonda, even by Elyssa, who I'm only just beginning to know. Thinking about what Musa just said to me, and what everyone has been saying to me, it just was contradictory to everything I've ever known before. Now that I've learned a little about how manipulating temptation can be, I could be able to use the experience to attempt to resist any temptation to divulge my secrets about Dr. Tonson to anyone else except Ms. Faragonda, especially Timmy.


	16. Cold Spell

**For those of you who already read this chapter, I've only rewritten the last two scenes with Ms. Faragonda and where Fiona made her first appearance. I felt in the first writing of the scene, Tecna was too trusting to let herself give in to the offer for help. Now Tecna is trying desperately to fight her ever evolving emotions. Skip to the last few scenes to see what I mean.**

* * *

 **Chapter Sixteen: Cold Spell**

During the week, we attended the meeting with Alfea's faculty in the auditorium regarding the parent teacher interviews. Afterwards, Ms. Faragonda pulled me aside once again, telling me that because she officially had custody of me under Magix' law, the closest thing to being my parent, I was exempt from the parent teacher meetings. Knowing this, my studies would be my main priority. However I couldn't help but feel bad while listening to the others' express their concerns about the meetings, since I didn't have any input of my own. On Friday night, the girls and I reached Alfea's wing shaped gates and walked through the quad after going out to Magix and watching a movie. I thoroughly enjoyed it, although I could clearly see that Musa was not loving it so much as she sat next to me in the row of seats. The movie was about a family going through financial crisis, causing major communication issues. It didn't get to me like it got to Musa, or Flora, but watching it I wasn't exactly sure what to feel. The father wanted so much to make ends meet and give everything he wanted to his family, but during the process he was spent more time at his job, and he didn't want that. I knew that Dr. Tonson clearly didn't want to look at me as a daughter, I was merely an experiment to him, an object. I suppose deep down inside I wanted someone to love me that way, and this love was definitely demonstrated by Ms. Faragonda ever since I came to Alfea. But how can that be, this affection was never given to me before, so why was I suddenly craving it more than ever? All my intellect and logical thinking fought desperately against these waves of emotion, grasping for anything it had left.

I didn't want to admit that I was fighting off my emotion because of the terrible secret of my home life. For all I knew the girls assumed I had a mother and father, but their ways of raising me were a little unusual compared to what they were all used to. As we walked across the quad, I could feel something different in the air, but I didn't say anything for now. Maybe it was only me, and I was just on edge because of everything that was on my mind at the moment. Kiko bounded in front of the group as we continued back to the main entrance of the school.

"The parent teacher meetings are coming up soon," Bloom reminded us, we'd been too busy thinking about the movie that we forgot about it, "time flies doesn't it?"

"It'll be nice to see my parents together again." Stella giggled.

"Together or not, at least you get to see your parents." Musa remarked, "Sadly, these meetings bring no music to my ears." She only had one real parent, and missed the other one every waking minute of the rest of her life. I've developed what was known as empathy for Musa's situation, I couldn't put myself in her shoes exactly but I could understand how she felt.

"Something's wrong here," Flora interrupted our current conversation, and I was glad that I wasn't the only one to notice the strangeness in the atmosphere, "It's as if mother nature were upset."

"Don't fret about it, Flora, we're all just a little tired." Stella insisted. Once we reached Alfea's hallway, the feeling I had deep inside me began to increase. I couldn't help but stop everyone as I heard a sound from a short distance away. I didn't know rather I was on edge or if something was actually wrong in the corridors of the school for fairies, but if Flora could sense something was off balance, then there had to be a need to investigate.

"Hold on, did you hear that strange rustling noise?" I inquired as everyone stopped in their tracks near our dorm room.

"Tecna, it was you," Bloom replied with a slightly irritated tone, "you're just imagining things." Maybe I was, but maybe I wasn't. If Flora could sense something, then I wasn't imagining anything. Bloom entered the dorm room with Kiko at her feet as Flora, Stella and Musa followed her. I trailed hesitantly behind my roommates, observing my surroundings for abnormalities.

"I'm exhausted, I'm going straight to bed, never mind noises and meetings." Stella yawned as she walked right into her bedroom. Musa turned on the lights in the common room as Stella shut her door to block the light. It took me about half an hour to finally fall asleep that night, only because of that nagging feeling that was creeping up on me, and because I had many other things on my mind. The deep inner desire to feel like the other girls, to be loved by a family. I suppose the reason why I'd so distant from the girls lately was because I was scared, scared of being too emotional. I was used to not showing my emotions in in front of Dr Tonson, and now everyone is convincing me that it's okay to be emotional, all of it was making me unsure of what to believe. It was contradictory to everything I ever knew. This ever building fear made me insist on telling everyone to just let me be, so that I don't get too caught up in their love and affection.

* * *

In the middle of the night, the sound of Stella screaming from her bedroom could be heard throughout the entire dorm. Musa and I immediately flew out of our beds and ran out to meet up with Bloom and Flora at their bedroom door.

"Huh?" Flora queried before we entered the bedroom of the Princess of Solaria, Bloom and I sat by her feet, Flora sat by the head of her bed, and Musa sat on the floor. Stella never screamed like this before, so we were a little worried, but it seemed to be just a nightmare and nothing too serious.

"Stella, what happened, why were you screaming?" Bloom asked her while she continued to lie under her comforter with a pillow hugged against her chest.

"Um I don't know," Stella quivered in a fearful voice, "I was dreaming."

"Stella, you poor thing," Flora placed a reassuring hand on Stella's forehead as Musa yawned, "you must've had a nightmare, you remember what it was about?"

"No, I don't, but it was much more than just a nightmare." Stella explained, "It was as if someone was watching me." This definitely proved my intuition from earlier, first Flora got the feeling from her communication with nature, then I heard a strange sound in the corridor when we returned to our dorm, and now Stella feels as though she's being watched while she's sleeping. As more abnormal things keep happening, my hunch was that they weren't just coincidences.

"I've said it before, there's something really strange in the air tonight." I insisted.

"Oh well, I don't understand what the big fuss is about," Musa stood up from her place sitting on the floor, "Stella had a nightmare, so what? I'm going back to bed." She said that last statement hastily as she exited Stella's bedroom. Flora giggled slightly after Bloom looked curiously in her direction for a response to Musa's abrupt departure.

"Let's all go back to bed, all right," Bloom suggested, "and Stella, holler if you need anything." Stella gave her a weak smile and chuckled nervously before it faded into an expression of uncertainty. After we were all in our beds, it took me a while longer to finally fall asleep again. I was wondering about that intense nightmare that Stella had, I was constantly staring at the window, what if Stella actually did feel that someone was watching her sleep and they could be spying on the rest of us too. If this was some boys from Red Fountain's way of amusing themselves, breaking into Alfea and watching vulnerable fairies sleep, then Ms Faragonda and Saladin will be the first ones to be informed, and Mrs. Griselda would not tolerate it either. Suddenly, another theory came to my mind, what if it was something more than a group of students looking for sexual amusement, what if it was more serious then that? What if the Trix were involved in this and it was another attack on Bloom? I turned to look at my clock on the desk beside my bed, when suddenly I heard Musa groan.

"Tecna, are you still awake?" She asked.

"Wide eyed and alert." I answered wearily.

"Don't worry about what Stella said, it was probably just a personal dream from thinking about the parent teacher meetings and her relationship with her parents. They're are divorcing and she's really stressed about that." Musa explained in the darkness from the other side of the room. I had no idea Stella was just watching her parents go through such a rough times, and all the attention she must have gotten prior was being taken away. Being Princess of Solaria, I suppose she was used to all the attention and now she was afraid of losing it because of her parents' upcoming divorce.

"Oh, I didn't know," Was all I could manage to say in response, "I guess it would make it hard for Stella to sleep, having that on her mind."

"Yeah, I wouldn't worry about anything, Tecna." Musa replied with a loud yawn. We exchanged good nights as Musa lay back down, and I closed my eyes. It was a little reassuring to know that the stress could make Stella's dreams seem more than subconscious figments of her imagination. However my own mind was still overactive with wonder about that strange sense of disorder. After a while longer, I managed to drift off to sleep, although it was restless.

* * *

I tossed and turned trying to keep calm while the increasing sense of disorder loomed over me. Despite my best efforts it didn't work, my dreams became so disturbing, so horrifying, so.., illogical, they caused my heart to race without effort. Most of my dreams were very complex for anyone else's mind to comprehend what they meant, however they were made for me to conclude and my mind only. Most of those dreams were very unpleasant when I lived in Dr Tonson's windowless laboratory, there would always be this constant fear that he would no longer need me and would abandon me somewhere, not caring where I was or what happened to me, and that fear reflected tself through my dreams when I did have them. It wasn't very often that I did dream. When I finally realized I didn't need him to live, and became less dependant on him, I still had the fear of Tonson's experiments failing and one day he wouldn't need me anymore, I had a very unsettling feeling that he would 'dispose of me' if his experiments suddenly become unsuccessful. This constant fear still remained, even at Alfea, that one day I would choose to come back to Zenith to find out the exact purpose of what he was injecting me with, and to be told that it wasn't working as effectively anymore for whatever reason. In that case I was then defective, and the wonderful world I'd been experiencing ever since my escape would cease to exist. He would have no choice but to kill me...

The dream I was currently having was completely different from any other I had ever experienced before, it still reflected my deepest fear of discovering the purpose behind Tonson's creation and my fears of becoming defective in his eyes, but the symbolism was much more complex than usual. All I could see was pitch darkness, when suddenly a flash of green lightning emerged from above me, and falling numbers came from nowhere into my field of vision as I could hear distant electronic beeps.., was this the formula for Tonson's creation? Were these the calculations it took him to complete that concoction he continuously injected me with? It looked like they were all jumbled up, incoherent to even my extensive mind, it was simply unreadable. Was I supposed to figure out what it meant, to find out what in fact the formula contained, I couldn't. It wasn't because it was too hard, but because the facts were just too unreadable! It made my head ache so much trying to make sense of it. Knowing that this could be the key to every answer of my past, my ever curious and wondering mind needed to know the truth, and at that very second I was compelled to unravel this unreadable formula. The fear of not being able to solve it was unbearable, and I screamed not knowing what was going on around me. The numbers within the formula began turning into a material of some sort, right before my eyes. It covered me and wrapped around my body as I struggled within it. I couldn't see a thing once more, I was being suffocated by something that was previously an illegible mathematics equation that was supposed to represent the very liquid I had been injected with for as long as I could remember. This thing continued to trap me as I fought and screamed, somehow managing to sit up within my paper-like restraints. I continued to scream as I began n reaching out for something, anything, to brake free. When I was fully sitting up, I could feel the material move and shift again. By now it had rolled up into a paper, with me trapped inside, screaming as much as I possibly could. I felt like I couldn't breath, and I wanted out of this horrible prison. It felt so real, and it frightened me so much considering what it all was suppose to mean to me personally, what it meant scared me more than the suffocation and illegible equations. As the paper rolled up, and flew through the darkness, I continued to struggle, and scream as loud and as high as my lungs could manage. I don't think I had ever screamed this much in my entire life, even when I was being injected by Dr Tonson as a child, less aware of what he was doing to me. Moments later, I found myself on the ground and wanting to wake up in my bed at Alfea. I realized I was far from it, I trembled fearfully as I felt the hard ground underneath me, and sat upright. My surroundings were very unsettling, nerve wracking even, everything was made out of simulated structures, the trees, buildings, even the ground was as if it was in a malfunctioning simulator. I screamed again, this was the most horrifying thing I could've ever witnessed, even in my subconscious. It didn't even look real.., this was my only other biggest fear, that everything, Alfea, my friends, all the support that I've received since I left Zenith was all an illusion from my desperation to escape, and that I would wake up back in Dr Tonson's laboratory. Right at that very moment I figured that both of my biggest fears had appeared right in front in my eyes in one petrifying dream. As the dream went on, I felt myself getting weaker and weaker, even more so than I usually did during training classes. Just seconds after my reaction to the terrifying sight around me, I saw Timmy walking by, and at first I was relieved to see him. The one person that despite everything could never criticize me no matter my reaction to anything, and my immediate hope was that even if he knew nothing of my home life, he could still provide some type of reassurance that everything was going to be fine. Unfortunately my hopes were shattered when I took a closer look at him from where I sat on the ground. I saw.., his face.., his eyes were.., misplaced on his glasses when he put them back on. He was much lankier then usual, his shoulders higher the his human structure would allow in the normal world, his hands looked big and bulky. As he left my field of vision, the dream finally ended, and I opened my eyes, gasping in desperate relief. My heart raced furiously from my chest and I couldn't get it to stop, I sat up and grasped my blanket tightly in my hand. I looked over at Musa who was still fast asleep.

"Musa, what's going on?" I asked horsily as I ran over to her side of the room and nudged her shoulder, however there was no response from her, which continued to frighten me even more than I already was, "Musa, answer me, Musa!" Finally she woke up groaning and rubbed her head.

"How are you feeling?" I inquired softly.

"I don't know," Musa answered, "I feel kind of empty." That was so strange, I felt the same way. If it weren't for all the frightening things I had seen in the past ten or fifteen minutes, I would have just collapsed back on my bed, but I was still way too wound up to even think about going back to sleep.

"That must've been quite the dream." I thought, assuming she had a nightmare just as emotionally disturbing and personal to her as mine was to me. Just then, the rest of the girls came to our room, Bloom leading the group as she opened our door.

"What's going on?" She asked us as she walked in with Kiko perched on her right shoulder.

"We heard a scream." Flora added. Who's, was it mine, was I really screaming in my sleep? That was new for me, I never screamed at all, despite everything I've been through. Maybe it was Musa's scream, if it was mine, Musa would've woken up in an instant with her sensitive hearing, but she was completely drained when I tried to wake her.

"Oh, my beauty sleep." Stella was the last of the girls to walk into our room, Bloom and Flora already reached where I was sitting on the foot of Musa's bed when she joined them.

"I woke up suddenly and.., then I noticed.., that something was wrong with Musa." I explained, hiding anything about my own dream, I couldn't show that I also had a terrifying nightmare. What that dream contained would reveal too much of my secret if I told anyone what it was about.

"I was dreaming about my mother," Musa began, " but then the dream turned into my very own worst nightmare, a place with no music."

"That's strange," I added, "I too was having a horrible dream." That was all I had in to tell the rest of the girls, it was enough information.

"First Stella, now you too," Bloom inquired, "what's going on around here tonight?"

"Girls, let's recap the situation, shall we?" Stella stood there tired, and I could tell she was getting easily irritated, "There are too many weird things. First, Tecna hears strange rustling noises, then we have nightmares, finally there's Musa's world without music!" As she pointed out all the abnormal activity that happened tonight, Kiko chattered his teeth with every word, the expression on the little bunny's face said it all.

"Mmm, ssh, quiet fairies..." Just then, Flora began to sense something else in the air, but this time it wasn't harmful, "Mirta!"

"What's Mirta got to do with it?" I asked, as a response to Flora's sudden communication with the Cloudtower witch who had been turned into a pumpkin, Kiko jumped from Bloom's shoulder and hopped out to the common room.

"Kiko, where are you going?" Bloom asked her pet, "What's up?"

"I think Kiko is sensing what I'm sensing." Flora answered her, she ed the way as we saw Kiko standing beside Mirta in her pumpkin form, waving his arms frantically.

"Kiko is trying to tell us something." Flora concluded as he responded with a strange expression on his face, "It's about Mirta, right Kiko?" He began hopping up and down, urging Flora to try and contact Mirta's human spirit within the pumpkin. Flora stood back and began focusing to get in touch with Mirta, and within seconds, Mirta's human form projected from the pumpkin with her magic.

"Flora, oh thank goodness you were able to contact me. That creature hasn't been able to get to you yet, Bloom." She began, and Bloom's eyes widened with horror, what creature was Mirta talking about? "But I saw it, I saw it creep around in here, and then at the first light of dawn it just took off! We have to get ready for when it comes back tonight." That was all Mirta could tell us before she disappeared from Flora's hand. Looking out the window, the sun was peaking over the tree on the horizon. That explained a lot, there was some kind of creature lurking around our dorm room, possibly causing the strange noises, and our horrible, physically draining nightmares. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

* * *

Everyone except Flora met outside on the quad after classes that day, Bloom was quiet, and so were the rest of us, until she spoke up for the first time since we got there.

"What do you girls think?" She questioned worriedly, "What could that weird creature want from us?"

"I don't know, what to you think?" Musa answered her.

"Mirta saw it come into your bedroom, then it just kept growing in size." Bloom reminded us.

"It's obviously angry at us," I concluded, I did not have an answer to why it would be angry, "and so it's taking us one by one."

"Even Kiko sensed something," Bloom added, "ugh, we really outta be careful, I have a The feeling that there's a Cloudtower connection here. It's as if the creature's somehow capable of drawing out our deepest fears."

"No kidding," There was no arguing that was the creature's main objective, to bring out our deepest fears, but now what we needed to figure out was the purpose for doing it, " and if I go about what's happened, Flora's next."

"I know," Bloom replied, "all this make me think about my birth parents…" Maybe Bloom's worst fear had to do with her biological parents and her identity, who they were and if they were alive somewhere. After a second, a deep sad sigh escaped her.

"Maybe Musa can cheer you up, I don't feel so good right now." Stella complained, she hadn't slept a wink that night.

"But Stella, at least you know who your parents are," Bloom pointed out.

"Yeah right, I know who they are, but they don't care much about me." Stella insisted, "The king and queen of Solaria, but Princess Stella brought up like a perfect stranger." We gasped sadly when we realized just how she felt about her parents and how she thought they treated her.

"Hey, why the long faces?" She asked in surprise, "I'm way over it by now. The only time they seem to notice me is when I bring home a bad report card, so now I get to dream about my parents, huh?" She did not sound like she was over it, she sounded like she was in complete denial.

"Oh poor Stella," Bloom answered sarcastically as Musa chuckled slightly.

"Where's Flora?" The Solarian Princess finally inquired.

"In her room, she's trying to break the spell that Mirta's under." Bloom explained, " Ever since the Trix turned Mirta into a pumpkin, it's been Flora's mission to help her out. She's hoping to find a potion that'll give Mirta back her human shape."

"Speaking of spells, whatever happened to your prince, Bloom?" Stella suddenly pressed.

"If you're referring to Brandon, you should know he's just a friend, who I haven't caught a glimpse of in a long, long time."

"That's a shame, he was such a gentleman, and Prince Sky's squire to boot. How valiant and noble is that?" Stella continued with a giggle.

"I have no idea if I should give up hope or not to be honest.., deep down in my heart I know I don't want to lose Brandon." Bloom admitted.

"Hey Bloom, weren't you helping Flora turn Mirta back to normal?" Musa asked.

"Yeah, I am. I'll go check up on her once we get back to the dorm and continue our search for a counter-potion. I just wanted to discuss last night with everyone, it seems like a much more pressing matter." Bloom informed us. Once we returned to the dorm, and just as we expected, Flora was using every spell from a book Bloom helped her find in Alfea's library.

"Any progress with Mirta?" Stella asked the Lynphean fairy of nature.

"No luck whatsoever," Flora admitted with a discouraged sigh, "at least I'm able to contact her from within her pumpkin state now. It'll come in very handy in the future."

"You're right," I agreed, "if you want, we can help you look for more books that might give us more information."

"It's all right, Tecna," Flora insisted with a genuine smile, " you girls have the mystery of that creature that snuck in here last night to worry about."

"Yes, but if it weren't for the fact that I went to Cloudtower, Mirta wouldn't have been turned into a pumpkin in the first place. I don't want you taking full obligation for returning her to normal." Bloom protested,

"I promised Mirta that I would help her, and I intend to be a woman of my word." Flora insisted.

* * *

After attempting for hours without any changes, Flora decided to contact Mirta with her magic, Stella, Musa and I were sitting in the common room, Musa and I were doing our homework, while Stella was reading a fashion magazine and applying make-up. We turned our attention. watching as Mirta's human form appeared as a magical projection in the palm of Flora's hand, just like last night.

"What am I doing wrong, Mirta?" Flora asked hopelessly.

"You aren't doing anything wrong, Flora, you just need to dig deep down into your heart and grab ahold of what you really want the magic to do. Picture what you want it to do, and with enough concentration, it'll happen." Mirta explained, "You're stressing your brain and your magic way too hard on this, you've been at it for hours. Take a break for a while, maybe you girls can plan your next move for tonight."

"That's a good idea, Mirta." Bloom replied, "Besides what you have told us already, did you see the creature doing anything else?"

"No I didn't, and I didn't really see exactly when it snuck in," Mirta told us, "All I saw was that it went into Stella's room first."

"Well we all know that." The Princess of Solaria stated irritably, despite having the time, she chose not to catch up on the sleep she missed the previous night, she insisted that just in case Mirta was returned back into her human form, she wanted to be there to see it for her own eyes

"I have an idea, what if Kiko stays with me while I watch for the creature, and once I see him heading toward Flora, Kiko will go warn you." Mirta suggested.

"That's a great plan, Mirta." Musa answered. That night, we did everything as if nothing was planned, however we kept our clothes on when we went to bed, because we would be staying awake until the creature attacked.

* * *

I watched in the darkness, for something, I was not able to keep still under my blankets , not after last night, it would be too much for me to handle two nights in a row. The feeling of unmeasurable horror was something I had never experienced before. My emotions were taken away from my before I had a chance to have them first hand, and now.., I wasn't sure, but perhaps that fear that I was meant to experience at the time was finally catching up to me. Musa was wide awake in her bed across from me, also waiting for Kiko's cue, it felt like hours beforeKiko finally hopped into our bedroom from the common room.

"It's s time!" I informed my roommate as we sprung from our beds and slipped on our shoes. As we ran out of our bedroom, we saw the creature that was attacking us last night. It was as tall as the room itself, and I could only estimate how big it was when it came to feed on my fears, which must not have been that big at all. Now that I knew what it looked like, the image of it hovering over me, eyeing me as I slept made my skin crawl, for the first time in my life there was only one word to describe how I felt.., violated. Everyone surrounded the monster as we all finally discovered what was feeding on our worst fears.

"Uh, it's horrible!" Bloom gasped, we stared it down, images flooding our minds of what the creature had been doing to us the previous night. After a few minutes, we snapped out of it, and stood ready to transform.

"Magic Winx!" We shouted in complete unison as we transformed into our Magic Winx forms.

Once we were ready and fully changed, we stood our ground as the monster roared ferociously.

Stella was the first to act, taking her ring from her finger and tossing it into the air.

"Solaria!" She summoned her staff and caught it in both hands. Once her staff was firmly in her grasp, she blasted the huge beast with a shot of sun energy. However when it flew backward, she froze up, obviously the monster was reflecting the memories of last night back into her thoughts, causing the Princess of Solaria to hesitate to defend herself further. As she froze, the monster left, moving through the wall as if it was some kind of spirit.

"Come on, let's tail that thing!" Bloom shouted, Stella suddenly snapped out of her phased state

and flew out of the room, Musa and I following behind, but I didn't see Flora anywhere. Once in the hallway, we could see the monster again, and Bloom turned on the lights. Musa and I both attacked it, only to stop short just as Stella had. I had realized exactly why Stella froze up, because when I attack the monster, I saw quick but vivid images of my nightmare from before. The illegible equation that represented Dr Tonson's formula, being suffocated by the material, meaning that even if I was at Alfea, I still felt a sensation of being trapped because of my past, and finally the malfunctioning city I was in and seeing a very unstable looking representation of Timmy that may or may not symbolize the possibility that my life outside of Zenith was an illusion. All those images represented my deepest fears and l was the only one that could unravel their hidden code. Just when I least expected it, I was shot backward and snapped out of my horrible memories, when I got my bearings, I saw Musa on the floor next to me, Bloom and Stella were fighting the monster on their own. I turned around to see Bloom with a shield in her hands and the monster shooting energy blasts at her as she fought fiercely to stay standing. Her efforts were futile when she too was blasted backwards, she probably lost concentration just like the rest of us due to our deepest fears. Instead of the monster attacking Bloom while she was down, it turned away, giving Stella a chance to fly over to her.

"Bloom, you okay?" the Solarian princess asked her in a panicked and quiet voice.

"Girls, what's wrong?" Finally Flora caught up to us, hastily flying into the corridor.

"We can't do this alone," I told her groggily, trying desperately to maintain my strength, "last night's horrors have completely tired us out!" Musa and I attempted to got off the floor as Stella continued to attempt to snap Bloom from the images that represented her own worst fears, but the expression on her face told the rest of us that the attacks were it's strongest than ever before, and they had taken their toll on her.

"Come on, Bloom, wake up," Stella pleaded, shaking the redhead's shoulders until she finally opened her eyes, "Snap out of it!"

"Where's the monster?" Bloom demanded as she got off the ground, "Where

did it go?"

"Downstairs, come on, let's hurry!" Flora answered, we gathered in a group as Stella used her magic to transport us out to the quad of Alfea.

"Now, where is it hiding?" Musa asked.

"I don't know, stay alert and focused girls!" Bloom answered. The quad was silent for a few minutes until the monster fell from out of nowhere. We sprung from our places on the ground to avoid it, screaming in surprise once we realized what was happening. Musa flew up towards it, gasping as it opened it's huge mouth and began to shoot at her again, but she dodged the attack just in time.

"So, you want to take me on, huh?" She challenged it, making a magical disco ball shield appear around her for protection. The monster continuously shot at her but the energy just bounced off of her shield. As I watched, I knew I had to help Musa, and so I focused all my magic, hoping that I wouldn't have another incident like the one during the obstacle course, and created a triangle shaped boomerang. I grabbed the magic triangle and tossed it at the monster, and to my expectations it wasn't as effective as it was meant to be. I watched for a moment more until the monster's attacks broke Musa's shield, and blasted her backward as she flew to the ground. Once Musa was dealt with by the creature, it turned its attention towards me, I stood frozen, wide eyed and I gasped in complete fear. It stared at me, and in the corner of my eye, I could see Flora and Stella fly toward the monster, trying to get the monster's attention, but it was too late, the monster began shooting at me, and I braced myself for the impact, I couldn't go through the horrible nightmare a third time in the past twenty-four hours, the horrors were one thing, but the after effect drained me too physically and magically.

"Oh.., no, I just can't!" I protested, "I can't do this!" I knew my arms were a fruitless defence mechanism. At this point I was on the ground, when suddenly blasts of Stella and Flora's magic headed toward the monster, and then there a huge explosion. In seconds I was on the ground with Bloom looking down at me and grabbing my arms trying to keep me from slipping into unconsciousness. I struggled desperately to keep myself alert but I just drifted away right there on the ground...

* * *

I fell into the dream world once again, this time my dreams were much more realistic, less complex and had a more direct plot line then the one before. As everything became clear, I found myself walking down the halls of Dr. Tonson's building. Maybe I returned for a holiday because I could still remember everyone from Alfea, however I had the strange eerie feeling that something bad was about to happen. Suddenly, I could hear Dr. Tonson's voice, he must have been talking to one of his colleagues.

"This is outrageous," he sounded furious, only rarely have I been in his presence to see him this enraged, "after all these years my experiment hasn't been working! All this time I've been injecting that fairy with it so much that she has become immune to it! I suppose with all that useless liquid coursing through her veins, she's become.., defective. She's of no use to me now, so, we'd have to kill her." I began to trembled and held my breath as I heard every word.

"No." I gasped silently, this was my very worst fear, for Dr Tonson to kill me right after I escaped and realized just how much opportunity there was out there for me. I turned and ran the other direction, unfortunately Tonson spotted me before I could get away.

"You're not getting away!" His colleague shouted, but I continued running for my life. I didn't get very far before I tripped over my feet, and when I turned fearfully toward the man that held me prisoner for as long as I could remember, he was aiming a laser gun straight for me. I knew for a fact that it was much more powerful then the one Timmy owned. Before Tonson was about to take my life with on sudden blast, my eyes shot open with horror...

* * *

I observed my surroundings as I woke up, and to my greatest relief, I was still on the ground on Alfea's quad. I could hear some commotion going on, but my mind was too foggy to make any sense of it. My heart was pounding even more than it had last night, and I knew that the monster had everything to do with it. I tried to get up, but I was still very weak.

"Can someone explain to me what happened here tonight." I could hear Ms Faragonda inquire, the headmistress heard everything? I hope that we didn't cause any damage to the school. I got up slowly, walking toward Bloom to help her up.

"We don't have a clue, Mrs Faragonda," Bloom confessed while I supported her with my shoulder, "except that that strange monster began attacking us."

"And we don't even want to think about what would've happened if you hadn't shown up." Stella added, helping up Flora who was on the ground beside her. She was panting heavily while getting off the ground, and Musa was the last to get up. After all the excitement. we saw Kiko finally coming out to meet us, stopping at Musa's feet.

"Oh, Kiko, I don't know what to tell you, except you're such a good bunny." I suppose she was praising him for his contribution.

"I have a feeling Mrs Griffin will know what happened,"Ms Faragonda replied as it began to rain "or at least.., I hope she will."

"Now that everything is over, why can't we actually get some sleep!" Stella suggested, now incredibly aggravated, despite her tone, we did agreed, that is except for me. I was much too scared to sleep again, even if the monster was gone, I still felt as thought the dreams could come back. The dream that I had when the monster was attacking us was still very fresh as I laid in bed that night, I can't remember being this frightened in my entire life, even before all the times I had my emotions taken away during every injection. The fear was so intense that I laid awake in my bed the entire night.

* * *

The next day after that fateful encounter with the nightmare monster, Bloom informed me that while I was out cold, she discovered that it was the Trix who summoned the monster to tamper with our dreams and make us reveal our deepest fears. I had a hunch that Icy, Darcy and Stormy had something to do with the attack, but despite knowing this, I still had a sinking feeling that my dreams were some kind of warning of what's to come. Due to this distraction and the lack of sleep from the previous few nights, I couldn't even pay attention in class. I was grateful that I didn't have my one on one battle class with Ms. Faragonda today, but eventually I ended up passing out at my desk, and when I opened my eyes, I was lying on the headmistress's couch in her office, just as I had been after being knocked out by Ms Griselda on the very first day of my battle classes before Ms. Faragonda took over.

"Bloom told me the monster the Trix summoned was causing you girls to have horrifying nightmares," She began softly, "Which only leads me to guess that you had dreams of your life back on Zenith?"

"Yes, exactly." I groaned, I was still quite fatigued and just barely able to keep my strength up, I couldn't even focus on what the headmistress was saying to me.

"As hard as it might be for you to recall, can you tell me what the dreams were about?" She inquired, "these surfacing fears could tell us more about Tonson and your home life that you might have been suppressing before." I did not like the idea of experiencing the emotions associated with the dreams, but Ms. Faragonda was the only person I trusted fully with every detail of the truth.

"The monster attacked Stella, Musa and I the first night, I had this horrible dream that Tonson's formula for his injection had been altered to the point where it was completely unreadable.., and suddenly it materialized into some sort of rolled up piece of paper, trapping me inside, I was suffocating!" My explanation of the events of this other night began to turn into an uncontrollable rambling spree, but Ms Faragonda was sitting next to me, and grasped her hands on my shoulders in reassurance.

"Just try to relax, Tecna, it's over." She encouraged me in a soft voice, I attempted desperately to slow my heart once it began racing from the surfacing memories of the previous two nights. It seemed too illogical for the emotions to come up so easily, I could sense that I was beginning to lose control of what I used to be, and just as illogically, this realization frightened me. Fear was an emotion itself, yet that is how it felt to know I was losing all my rationality to an infinite list of feelings, and what made even less sense was that the events that forced me to suppress these emotions were the very ones that these emotions derived from. Trying to process all of this in my head only increased my already fatigue induced headache.

"That's not even the beginning, when I thought I had woken up and it was all over, I realized I was far from it, I was in a malfunctioning simulator... The trees, buildings, everything was unstable, nothing looked real. And that makes me think about all of this.., Alfea, the girls, you, Timmy, what if all of that wasn't real? What if this is just a dream itself?" I continued, closing my eyes, I didn't notice what was happening to me, however the headmistress certainly did. She noticed that I was beginning to tremble. My eyes remained shut as I started to shake my head at the increasing idea that the surroundings in front of me could just be subconscious illusions. Despite the fact that Ms. Faragonda knew I wasn't one to accept displays of affection, but she moved closer to me, wrapping her arms around me tightly.

"Believe me Tecna, everything here at Alfea is real, this isn't an illusion." The headmistress told me softly, " We are going to do everything we can to make sure that the past stays in the past. It would just put you in too much danger to return to Zenith." Just hearing her say that made the dream I had last night come to mind, the dream where Tonson found out that I no longer had a purpose for him, and he intended to kill me.

"Why do you say that, Ms. Faragonda?" I asked her fearfully.

"It's plainly obvious that your safety and wellbeing will be at stake if you ever return to Zenith." She stated firmly, "You were so weak and malnourished when you got here that if for any reason anyone come to take you back, I would have no choice but to go to the authorities."

"But you said you would keep everything I told you in complete confidentiality!" I protested frantically.

"And I did," the headmistress remained calm while I, l on the other hand, was entirely surrounded by mixed emotions, and hated every minute of it, "but if it had come down to it, then anything and everyone I could do on my own would be out of my control. As a person of responsibility I have an obligation to inform the authorities when laws are broken, and in this case, Tecna, there are numerous offences."

"I only ask because.., when the monster attacked us again last night, I passed out right there on the quad after trying to battle it, and.., I had another, very disturbing dream. This time it was more realistic." I continued hesitantly and swallowed the lump in my throat, "In the dream, I was walking the halls of Tonson's laboratory, when I heard him say that the liquid that he was injecting me with.., I had become immune to it! Then I heard him say to his colleague that because his creation is still running through my veins, I was defective, and so.., he would have to kill me!."

"Tecna, is that what you're afraid will happen if you go home?" Ms. Faragonda asked me with a fearful gasp.

"Yes it is, headmistress," I confessed, "but to be brutally honest I'd rather be stuck with a mad man's creation that does effect me coursing through my veins than be defective and not have it work. At least then Tonson would have no reason to dispose of me."

"You say that as if you were an inanimate object." Ms Faragonda remarked.

"That's nothing new." I stated dully, "In my dream, he got so far as to almost kill me with a laser gun before I opened my eyes."

"Oh, Great Dragon, you can't be serious?" She gasped in horror, and I nodded, then stared down at my feet with nothing else to say.

"Ms Faragonda, what if my technology powers are telling me something about my future, what if the technology of Zenith is letting you know what might happen if you go back." I pondered after a minute of silence.

"There is no way you are returning to Zenith now, as your legal guardian under the laws of Magix I'm forbidding it." She declared sternly.

"But what if I wanted to find out exactly what Dr. Tonson's creation is doing to me?" I inquired in surprise at what she just told me, "Wouldn't that make things easier on you to get some information?"

"It would, but only when the time comes, we'll find that information out, but for now you're safest here in Magix." Ms Faragonda continued to maintain her calmness as she reassured me of this. She dismissed me from the rest of my classes for the day in order to get some proper sleep, and by telling me I had no reason to go back to Zenith, this made me feel slightly better. However that didn't mean Tonson couldn't find out about my escape eventually and try to find me here. After leaving the headmistress's office, I felt the desperate need to surround myself with my technology, to give me a sense of control and security. I located to the quad of the school for fairies, fingers briskly tapping away on the keys of my palmtop. The thoughts of Tonson finding me in Magix never left my mind, but preoccupying myself with the sound of the digital world kept me distracted. Suddenly my thoughts were broken when I heard a familiar voice coming my way.

"Tecna, I haven't seen you in forever!" It was Elyssa who spoke, and I whipped my head up to face her. There was another fairy coming up beside her dressed in silvery blue, with a complexion slightly darker than Flora's and her ginger blonde hair in a ponytail.

"Hi Elyssa, who's your friend?" I asked her, hiding the fact that the thoughts from earlier on that day were about to surface now that I was taking away from my palmtop.

"This is my roommate Fiona, sorry I never introduced you before." She told me.

"Hi, Tecna is it?" She began, her voice was enthusiastic, yet comforting, and had a strong accent.

"Yes." I confirmed, standing up to join the two other fairies.

"I sense deep dark fears surrounding your aura, Tecna." Fiona began abruptly, taking me by surprise.

"Fiona has the influence of the Crescent Moon of her realm of Mystica. She can sense people's emotions." Oh great, that's something I really need now is to be read like an open book. There emotions seem to be getting in the way when all I need is to gain back full control of every bit of logic I had.

"You haven't slept, I can sense that you are too frightened to let yourself sleep." Fiona continued.

"You're right Fio, Tecna, you do look very tired, but.., how did you know she was frightened?" Elyssa asked her.

"It's all a part of how my magic works." Fiona explained, then Elyssa turned to look me directly in the eyes.

"Okay Tecna, you don't have to tell us what's scaring you if you don't feel comfortable." She reassured me, "but I want you to at least let us help you relax enough to get some rest. You need it." Despite her offer to help me, they was dead on, I was too scared to sleep, and Ms. Faragonda dismissed me from classes so that I could do just that, sleep. Though, a sudden urge compelled me to run, to retreat to the security and order of my bedroom, surrounded by my electronic devices and logic. That was all I needed to restore myself.

"No, I just need to be alone for a while." I insisted, gathering my palmtop and instantly turning away from the two other fairies. Surprisingly only Elyssa attempted to follow me back to my dorm, but as I distanced myself from earshot hastily, I could hear Fiona telling her to give me some space, which I greatly appreciated.

* * *

The other Winx were still in their classes, so the dorm was abandoned except for Mirta who was patiently awaiting Flora's next bout of determination to restore her to her human form. I quietly slipped through the common room and into my bedroom, and with a great sigh of relief, slumped down on my bed, bringing out my palmtop once again. Too many thoughts rushed through my mind at one time, this whole concept of emotion was contradictory to itself, fear was an emotion and yet whenever I felt other emotions, even the ones meant to be pleasant and comforting, I experienced fear, and I did not like it. I wanted every emotion, no matter what it was, to go away. Not really enthusiastic about doing anything in particular at this point, I remained breathing heavily from sneaking away from Elyssa and Fiona. I did the one thing that I knew would calm me down, I pressed my hands against the smooth surface of my palmtop, drawing it's technological energy from it, letting it course through my veins. I closed my eyes and became one with my palmtop, I could see all the programming code it required to do every function, to have things in working order, and it comforted me to surround myself with it. Pretty soon, I managed to fall asleep with my palmtop still grasped tightly in my hands, and my magic still drawing energy from it.


	17. Secrets Within Secrets

**Chapter seventeen of The Secrets We Keep Volume One everybody! As I said in my previous journal entry on DeviantArt I did expect this chapter to focus more on the situation involving Bloom, Sky, Stella and Brandon than Tecna or Timmy. Though I managed to get in a webcam conversation between Timmy and General Tyler regarding Tecna's protection, and more on Tecna's coping mechanisms for being bombarded with all these new emotions and people who actually care about her, rather than being left alone.**

 **For those of you who hate continuous POV switching I apologize in advance, this is really a very POV switching heavy episode to follow, where things have to happen in a certain order or else the timeframe doesn't make sense. It's hard to explain so just bare with me. Also some slight use of language but to be warned it may increase in future chapters.**

 **Winx Club Episode Dialogue (c) Iginio Straffi And Rainbow S.r.l**

* * *

 **Chapter Seventeen: Secrets Within Secrets**

 **Timmy's Point of View**

After my visit with Tecna a few weeks ago, plenty of questions continued to remain in my thoughts, especially those regarding why she seemed to be so sensitive when she bumped her arm on the table. She also happened to mention that it wasn't the norm to show any emotion when she did get hurt. This puzzled me even more, making me intrigued about the day to day lives of Zenithian people. If I wasn't studying or doing homework, I spent my time secretly researching Tecna's culture. Strangely enough, I saw nothing about emotions being frowned upon on Zenith, they weren't very common, but as far as my research goes, I learned that they weren't shunned for expressing feelings in general. Although Tecna was the only Zenithian I have ever met, and I had no one to compare my sources with besides my research, it did raise suspicions that Tecna might not be your average Zenithian citizen. I was slowly putting together the pieces of my mission, gradually. Sitting alone in the dorm I shared with Brandon and Sky, I was about to give General Tyler another update on my progress. His face appeared on a video camera screen on my computer while I sent him some of the results of my research on Zenith.

"I visited Tecna a few weeks ago in the pretext of playing a video game with her, just to see if I could get her to open up a little more." I started to explain to the general, "I got as far as proposing an idea to expand the game into a virtual world for a more realistic experience. Just as a project I could work on with her."

"Perfect, using this game project to spend more time with her, and to get her to reveal more about herself while you gain her friendship." Tyler concluded, a satisfied grin on his face, "But did you make any progress on actually finding out more about her?"

"Yes, you see General Tyler, that's why I sent you the information on Zenithian culture, because Tecna claims that it's completely taboo to express emotions on Zenith, also stating that before coming to Alfea, she didn't know any different than to hide her emotions and to be lonely. That's when I decided to do my research and I figured that that although showing one's feelings is not very common on Zenith, it's not grounds for punishment or being shunned either. From what I've concluded out of this research, Tecna comes from a family on Zenith that may or may not be abusive. She obviously is convinced that it's not okay to have emotions."

"Someone has definitely neglected her care and deprived her of a normal life, even for Zenith's standards." General Tyler summarized my pointless rambling, getting to the bottom line, and I nodded.

"Did Ms. Faragonda tell you anything else on her end?" I inquired.

"No, besides what she mentioned about Tecna having no record of attendance to a doctor's office, not even for a general check up, there has been nothing else she's reported."

"General, do you think the Alfea headmistress knows more about Tecna's situation than we do?" I pressed, beginning to wonder if she had something to hide, and going to her would answer more questions than trying to get them out of Tecna, who would most likely deny anything that's wrong.

"Of course she does," He answered, "but you are an undercover secret agent, not a detective. Going straight to Ms. Faragonda would break one of the core rules of your title. And may I remind you too that there is the matter of student teacher confidentiality. Most of what goes on between Ms. Faragonda and Tecna remains within the confines of the headmistress's office."

"Of course, general," I sighed in defeat, "I will contact you as soon as I get more information." And so, our webcam conversation ended, only for Brandon and Sky to enter our room with Riven following lazily behind them. Brandon slumped down on his bed and Sky heaved a deep sigh that clearly indicated he was nervous.

"Guys, there is something Sky and I need to confess," Brandon began slowly, "Since the exhibition is coming up really soon and his parents have been invited to attend. I think it's the right time."

"What do you need to tell us?" I asked, giving the Eraklyon prince and his squire my full attention, unlike Riven who leaned up against the wall, looking as bored as he usually does.

"When Brandon and I first enrolled at Red Fountain last year, we switched identities for his safety." Sky continued to explain, leaving both Riven and I baffled. It was at that time that Riven's attention came to the conversation at hand.

"So let me get this straight, you're actually Sky, and you're Brandon?" He pointed to the blonde, then the brunette respectively, and they nodded.

"I thought it was a good time to tell you this so that there wasn't any confusion if we had to confront my parents." Brandon.., I mean, Sky, admitted, "I'm supposed to be protected from this man named Yoshinoya who has threatened to take over Eraklyon and will stop at nothing to achieve his conquest. I also thought this was a good time to tell the truth because.., I'm engaged." Riven and I suddenly snapped our heads in the direction of the blonde, giving him expressions of complete disbelief.

"You playing piece of-" Riven started before I gave him a glare that dared him not to finish his sentence, but he continued, "You've been stringing Bloom along this whole time when you and your squire know you've been messing around with another woman."

"It's not like that," Brandon.., Sky protested quickly, "this is an arranged marriage just to remain within loyal blood, I don't even have feelings for Diaspro! If I had a choice I'd tell my parents about Bloom and to call the arrangement off. I'm not messing around with anyone."

"The only person low enough to cheat on two girls at the same time is you, Riven," Sky.., uh, Brandon, joked, "I might flirt with other girls but Stella knows I'll always be loyal to her.., oh crap, Stella!" It was at that moment that he realized that if the Princess of Solaria found out that he wasn't the prince of Eraklyon, he would guarantee to get a nasty sunburn on his ass for lying to her. Just by the way she was, you did not want to piss off anybody with sun powers.

"I'm sure you have nothing to worry about," I reassured them, "I don't think the girls are even invited to the exhibition. It'll all pass and no one needs to know but us."

"Maybe you're right..," Brandon.., Sky sighed, "but I can't keep lying to Bloom, I need to tell her about the marriage, I'm too honest not to. I just don't know how."

* * *

Later on that afternoon, we returned from a field exercise and had no other classes for the day. Once again I sat at my computer, when Brandon.., Sky, the blonde, approached me with a situation that I had no idea how to help with, but between me and Riven, I was the only one that he actually trusted, so why not.

"Timmy, I'm in big trouble." He began slowly.

"What do you mean?" I clarified, turning my attention to the man standing next to me.

"About Bloom and Disapro?" He continued, I didn't remember who this Diaspro was, all I remembered was trying to get used to calling him Sky.

"Diaspro?" I questioned.

"The girl I've got to marry, I don't want to!" Sky protested, "I love Bloom." This was a dilemma that I couldn't really help him with, this was something that had to do with feelings, and although I was doing a bit of research on feelings and behaviours for my personal benefit, this was definitely out of my field of expertise.

"Bloom.., well, I'm sure there's a solution to this." I pondered, pushing my glasses up my nose with my finger, "Let me think for a sec. Okay, you and Bloom are talking, right?

"So?" Sky pressed, his voice beginning to sound slightly aggravated.

"So, give her the facts, tell her everything." That was the best advice I could give him, the truth is always the best, and it's what I would've done.

"You want me to do what?" Sky exclaimed.

"You can't draw the situation out forever, if you don't have feelings for Diaspro, talk to Bloom." I continued, "Or else you're going to lose her." This coming from a guy who's helpless with even talking to girls, the first time I saw Tecna was absolutely humiliating and to this day I still can't believe I have the bulls to look her in the eye again.

"Yeah, maybe you're right," The blonde sighed, "but it's not as simple as.., that." his voice was cut off by another, all too familiar voice.

"Why do you care so much?" It was Riven, we should have known he'd be listening in on our conversation, I could hear Sky growling under his breath as he finished his statement, "I sure wouldn't get worked up over a girl like Bloom."

"What!" I heard Sky snap right back at the burgundy haired muscle man just outside our door.

"The little flirt doesn't deserve half the attention she gets," he taunted Sky as I listened carefully, recently there have been more and more brawls between those two that Brandon and I had to break up, "After all, Darcy told me that Bloom likes to hang out with a lot of different guys." Seconds later, I heard a painful grunt and sure enough, a fight ensued, I didn't get there soon enough because by the time Brandon and I reached them, Sky had already been punched in the face a couple times and he was going at Riven furiously.

"Stop it, that's enough!" Brandon shouted as he came around to help Sky, "Are you guys crazy? Brandon, are you all right, is everything okay?"

"Yeah." Was the blonde's response as his best friend attempted to hold him back from continuing to beat Riven to a pulp, although I wouldn't be sure who would end up succeeding.

"How about you, Riven, are you all right?" All the brunette got as a response was Riven taking his hand away roughly, "You know, since you've been seeing Darcy, you're a real pain! Can't you see the witch is just using you, she's not your friend!"

"Then who are my friends, you guys?" Riven spat sarcastically before another voice broke up the argument, headmaster Saladin.

"What's going on here?" He asked as our attention was solely focused on the elderly man as he walked passed and stopped right in front of me, "Shouldn't you be getting ready for the exhibition? It is an important day for the school, don't let me down, understand!"

"Yes sir!" Sky, Brandon and I all stood tall as a salute to the headmaster, and then he looked towards Riven.

"Hmm, Riven." Saladin pressed, and the burgundy haired Specialist turned towards him.

"Yes sir." He grumbled.

"Good, now got back to your rooms and get ready!" The headmaster ordered, and Sky, Brandon and I retreated to our room and shut the door behind us.

"Brandon.., Sky I mean, did you ever get ahold of Bloom again?" I inquired.

"Why are you so curious, Timmy?" Sky.., Brandon.., asked me.

"It's okay, I told Timmy about Bloom's situation at Cloudtower, and yes she did call me back." Sky answered, "Turns out it was another scheme by the Trix sisters, I don't know what their intentions were but now we know that Bloom is not a reincarnation of the three ancient witches. Though this only brings her back to square one where finding out about her origins are concerned." This was good news for me, it meant that the rest of the Winx, including Tecna, were not in potential danger if the witches ever got ahold of the information. This made it easier for me to continue with the mission at hand, my mission of uncovering the threat that looms over Tecna and her life in Zenith, and what exactly I was assigned to protect her from. I felt so close to the answer, yet I knew I was still too far away, but with the obstacles eliminated, there was nothing to stop me.

 **Tecna's Point of View**

A week passed after the encounter with the monster that the Trix summoned to draw out our deepest fears through our dreams, and during this time, I became more and more isolated, withdrawing to the security of my technology and the world of programming code and precise calculations it provided me with. I did see Elyssa and her roommate again within the few weeks, and they asked how I was. My answer was distant, but not cold, because I knew they meant well. After watching the terrifying memories of my past unfold before my very eyes in my subconscious, I wanted nothing to do with it. The whole reason that Ms. Faragonda was obligated to take on responsibility for me with because I was so defenceless and inexperienced in the outside world, all because of my past. Furthermore, I was so uncomfortable with all these new arising emotions, those that I didn't feel the need to express growing up in Zenith, I didn't want to feel anymore, not even the more positive emotions that I got from being with the girls. It was all too confusing and unsettling, at least being surrounded by my technology, I was in control, I knew that things were in order, and I preferred it that way. I was also glad for the ever piling homework that I received, it was another thing that kept me thinking logically. One of my assignments was to search different realms for their inhabitants, I was interested in the varying realms of the Magical Dimension and how they were so different from one another. This was normally something that Flora would have more expertise in than I did, and I did ask her for a bit of help to get me started, though all my other information was gathered on my own. A monitor hung beside my bed, displaying the visuals from my desktop computer, that way I could have a broader image of the different aspects of each realm that needed to be covered for the project. I was so caught up in my work that I barely noticed Musa walking into our shared bedroom and grabbing her flute from one of her drawers.

"Tecna, as a friend, and your roommate, I've have to say this out in the open," She began quickly, "ever since the Trix attacked us within our dreams, you've been in here a lot. You've isolated yourself and it's not healthy. I'm only bringing this up to you because I'm concerned." I wished she wasn't so concerned about me, there was nothing to worry about. I was comfortable doing this, I felt secure, I didn't need anybody else's sympathy.

"There's nothing to be concerned about Musa, but I do appreciate it." I forced myself to say the last part, it really didn't matter whether they were concerned for me or not. I just wanted to be left alone, that was final.

"If you really insist, if it's not bothering you I'd like to practice my flute. I could play you a relaxing melody if you like?" She offered as she took her lesson book from the same drawer that she got her flute from.

"No, I don't mind at all." I assured her, looking away from my computer to meet her gaze for a brief second before returning to my homework. She used her magic to make a hovering podium appear in front of her, she played a beautiful melody, it was relaxing, and it actually did help me concentrate on my class project and block my mind from the worries and fears of the past week. Musa once told me that music actually helps concentration as well as blocking out any outside noise, and she was right. Once again I lost myself in the world of my computers, with Musa's flute blocking everything else from my thoughts. At first I didn't really appreciate Musa's concern for me, but now that I was enjoying her relaxing melody, now I did. Musa continued to play softly, flipping through her book with her magic powers as she did, and I resumed my project, searching realm after realm for interesting information. Suddenly the door opened, startling Musa, causing her podium and book to fall to the floor, it was Stella, Bloom and Flora who entered our room all at once.

"Bloom's out of her mind, you talk to her!" Flora insisted.

"Why, what's up, what do you want to do?" I asked Bloom, turning to face the three other girls behind me.

"She wants to go to the exhibition." Stella answered for her as she sat down on the edge of Musa's bed. I turned to the girls to resume the conversation, just then I remembered that Red Fountain was hosting an exhibition today. Timmy told me that he would be training hard for it and that he didn't want anything to happen that would compromise it. Red Fountain's reputation was on the line, and a lot of very important people from all over the Magical Dimension would be attending.

"Did she receive an invitation?" Musa inquired.

"No," Flora answered as I turned back to hear her, "or it wouldn't be a problem, would it?"

"But Bloom, why?" Musa continued to ask as Bloom walked over beside where I sat at my desk.

"I've asked her that." Flora added, answering Musa's question.

"I've got to talk to Brandon." Bloom finally admitted, speaking for herself for the first time she since they entered our room, "He's been avoiding me and I wanted to know why."

"Fess up, you like him." Stella began teasing her best friend, obviously she knew more about Bloom's feelings for the blonde Specialist than the rest of us.

"No, we're just friends." Bloom protested quietly, I could tell she was lying but I wouldn't call her on it, it wasn't worth pressing if Stella already knew the truth.

"Well in that case, I see no reason as to go so far as breaking the rules to get to him." Stella pointed out, walking towards her and waving her finger to emphasize her statement.

"Okay, maybe it's true." Bloom confessed, going over to pick up Musa's lesson book, "Brandon is special to me, but I'm not sure what I mean to him. That's why I need to talk to him today."

"All right, we'll go to Red Fountain with you." Flora agreed. Wait, what, they want to sneak Bloom into this exhibition just so she can talk to Brandon? There is no way I'm getting involved in this, the last time I got caught up in one of Bloom's plans that involved sneaking into somewhere, we had our powers taken away and had to clean the entire school. As much as I learned how to use primitive cleaning tools from Flora, I'd rather not do it twice in one school year. I better think of an excuse fast so that I don't have to go with them.

"Thanks Winx," Bloom replied while the others smiled at her with reassurance, that is, except for me.

"I'd love to go with you girls," I began hesitantly, almost afraid of Musa's response, since I know she has noticed my change in behaviour the most, "but I have to get a bit more homework done for Professor Palladium's class."

"Oh, no you don't," Just as I expected, Musa was the first to jump in, "This might not be the ideal way to get you out of your state of isolation, but you need to get out of Alfea. You're coming and that's final."

"For me, please Tecna." Bloom began to plead, and between Musa and Bloom, they wouldn't stop until they dragged me off school grounds. So I got up from my desk chair and looked at the three faces of my friends. Still, I managed to stay firm, not moving one bit.

"Don't make me do the puppy face." Stella threatened as she began to make her bottom lip quiver, imitating a begging dog.

"Very well," I sighed after a moment of watching Stella's lip quiver, "but we better not regret this like all the other times we've broken the rules and got in trouble for it."

"Don't worry, Tecna," Bloom reassured me, "it'll be a quick in and out, I'll look for Brandon before the exhibition, talk to him and get some answers, and then we'll leave, okay." I shrugged, somehow I was not convinced that it was going to be that easy.

* * *

We arrived at Red Fountain through the forest, and peeked our heads from the bushes to see a young freshmen specialist in blue guarding one of the doors that led inside. He did not look like the type to be qualified to watch out for people trying to sneak in to the exhibition, especially if there were going to be a lot of important people there. Once he turned away for a moment, we ran for it, unfortunately we were caught.

"Hey you," The specialist asked in a high voice which was not at all intimidating or full of authority whatsoever, "What are you doing here?" We stopped short, smiling nervously at him.

"Oh, uh nothing," Bloom answered him, "just uh, you know, hanging out."

"Run!" We yelled in unison as we began racing once again towards the closest door.

"Hey, wait!" The young Specialist shouted and began running after us, "Where do you think you're going?" Bloom opened a side door and we all snuck in before he could catch us again.

"Stop!" I heard him shout while she peeked her head out to see if he was gone. Sure enough we managed to get away, but we could hear him on the other side of the door, " Hey.., oh great, I lost them. Crazy girls." I was in the back of the group, and Bloom, Stella and Musa just giggled at him once we knew he was gone.

"He sure didn't do his job very well." Musa whispered.

"I know, getting in here was just too easy." Flora added.

"Okay, now that we're in, I'm going to find Brandon," Bloom told us quietly, "you girls can just wait here for me until I get back. I won't be long."

"That isn't a very good idea." Musa protested, but Bloom had already left, wondering the hallways in search of Brandon. I just sighed in frustration, leaning against the wall away from the others.

"And just how is this suppose to get me out of isolation, Musa?" I pressed.

"I did say it wasn't the ideal way." She reminded me, and I shrugged as the rest of the girls remained quiet as we waited for Bloom. After a while of waiting longer, I still had better things to do than be here, and even Stella was beginning to get impatient and was starting to pace the small area of the hallway.

"Bloom is taking longer than we expected, how hard is to find this guy?" Musa pondered.

"Ugh, I'm tired of waiting," Stella began complaining, "I want to see Sky! He's so handsome and strong and smart, his family's going to be here you know. They're the richest royals in the whole dimension!" The Solarian princess had been going on and on about just how great Prince Sky was, but she only rarely mentioned the qualities that made him a respectable ruler of the kingdom, and talks too much about his riches and looks. What about his personality, what his hopes and dreams were, what his opinions were on the how he wanted to run the kingdom once he took the throne, those were the things that mattered the most?

"I'm still not sure rather your heart beats more for your good looking prince, or for the cash he's got." Musa replied, and I nodded in agreement.

"Well, beauty is wasted if it's not surrounded by beautiful things." Stella insisted proudly, "Come on, let's go!" I heard Flora and Musa giggle slightly, and I because I had nothing else to do, and I knew that Musa was going to end up dragging me by the arm the same way she dragged me out of Alfea. I swear if we get caught by either one of the school facility I will rat Bloom out. I'm sorry if it's not what a friend does, but I am sick of being dragged around by my friends only to get scolded for it and regret it afterwards.

 **Timmy's Point of View**

The exhibition was about to start in fifteen minutes or so, and Sky, Brandon, Riven and I took theopportunity to brush up on our skills before the event. I boarded my hover bike with Sky, or Brandon as everyone knew him, following behind me. The crowd of people applauded our groupof Specialists as we rounded the huge outdoor stadium on our bikes. Brandon, or Sky, extended his double edged sword and swung it in his hands before fighting Sky with it while still on their hover-bikes. It was all part of the routine, to demonstrate the one on one combat skills we learned since the beginning of the year. And just as a precaution, Cordatorta was watching everything to make sure that no one got injured and nothing got out of hand. I continued driving around the track, only to turn around and notice that Sky was right behind me. He turned and nearly hit me with his phantoblade, once I recovered from dodging his swing, I began losing control of my bike, and as I headed toward the wall of the stadium I spun on the bike, finally putting on the breaks while dust collected around me. I remained fully aware, ready and able to continue the routine, so on cue, I took my laser gun out and shot up to the sky. Once Riven saw my signal, he throw four grenades at my marks, causing four small explosions in the air as the crowd of people cheered wildly. Once I got my bike back up, we exited the stadium so that exhibition could get underway. Sky, Brandon, Riven and I parked our bikes in the back garage, and took off our helmets.

"Hey, sorry for almost hitting you back there, Timmy, I wasn't looking where I was going." Sky began.

"It's okay," I reassured him, "no harm done, as long as the routine was still smooth and nothing went wrong, then it doesn't matter." The rest of the guys and I got off our bikes, waiting for the exhibition to start.

* * *

When Sky, Brandon, Riven and I started to do our routine again, this time it was the real thing, we rounded the stadium on our bikes, and circled the track numerous times, suddenly while Brandon and Sky were side by side, Riven drove up to them and collided with both of 's bike tipped sideways, causing him to crash and fall off, but Brandon managed to slow hisown bike down before getting off and running to his friend's aid.

"Is everything okay, are you hurt?" I heard him ask Sky as the blonde got to his feet.

"No, just a few bruises." Sky reassured him with a painful groan.

"It's payback time, Riven." Brandon insisted as they began to walk towards the burgundy haired man. I had to stop this from going any further, I wasn't going to allow their feud to ruin the most important day of the entire year for Red Fountain, Riven took off his helmet as he heard his name.

"Whatever." He huffed, Brandon and Sky met up with Riven on his hover-bike, and just in time, I drove over to the three of them to break anything up before it even started.

"Hey guys, this is not the time," I reminded them, "we got to do the dragon show." I took my own helmet off and we got off our hover-bikes. Right on cue, the doors opened and we watched as four dragons with different coloured wings walked out. We were each assigned a dragon,and we trained with them all throughout the year. The dragons responded to hand signals, and any specific series of hand movements could make them do anything and change reactions from being calm and responsive to being chaotic and out of control. They obediently lined up in front of us waiting for our instructions. I could see the fierce look in Sky's eyes as he glared at his dragon, and I could still tell he wanted to get even with Riven. The four of us walked toward our respective dragon and began our demonstration as the excited crowd of spectators watched from their seats.

 **Tecna's Point of View**

Stella continued to search the halls for a good spot to watch the exhibition from, I stood on the outside of the group, the last thing I wanted was to be spotted by the teachers of Red Fountain, or anyone else that would immediately bring us to Ms. Faragonda. Suddenly the blonde princess of Solaria peeked through an opening of two doors.

"Hey girls!" She shouted with a gasp, "We can see everything from here!" The girls gathered around her to see the show, and even if I didn't want to be here at all and would rather not be caught sneaking around the boys' school, I was interested to see what this exhibition was actually about. Musa shoved Stella to the side as she cried out in protest.

"I want to look too." Musa told Stella, now it was my turn, only for a quick second so that I could get a glimpse of the events going on outside.

"Okay, time's up," I spoke up, "my turn." I peered out the doors to see all the guys controlling dragons with hand motions, Timmy had told me that it was how dragons understood commands, it was an interesting technique and I wondered how it worked, "Wow!" I was surprised to watch them do it with my own eyes.

"Hey, my turn now," Flora insisted, "move over!" I suppose it was for the best that I only had a little peek, but did Flora have to push me? My arms are still very tender from all those years of injections. The bruises might have went away over time but the scarred muscle tissue underneath may never heal, and every time I was pushed, I was constantly reminded of that.

 **Timmy's Point of View**

The guys and I stood in a circle, backs toward each other with arms high in the air as our respective dragons flew overhead. Our hand motions told the dragons to continue circling above us, behind me I could hear Sky and Riven talking.

"No hard feelings about the incident earlier?" Riven asked him, "Right?" I could tell just by his tone that there was deep fury burning within him, it was that slight hint of sarcasm that said everything. I immediately turned to see Riven fall to the ground and lose control of his dragon, the dragon just landed beside him. I didn't have a chance to see exactly what happened to cause Riven to fall.

"None whatsoever." I heard Sky reply with a slight chuckle, that only told me that he did something to make Riven lose control of his dragon, but I was trying to concentrate on my own dragon to notice, or even stop the upcoming attack between Riven and Sky's dragons. Riven got up, and began commanding his dragon to follow Sky's, and then his dragon began to attack Sky's as it yelped in pain. As the crowd of people watching the event began to run from their seats screaming in fear, I brought my own dragon down calmly, and so did Brandon, while the other two dragons continued battling it out.

"Now that was uncalled for!" Sky shouted as he planted his feet on the ground in a firm stance and commanded his dragon to scratch Riven's for self defence. Riven's dragon fell to the ground from the impact, however both got up and began to fly in the air and attack each other. Riven's dragon shot Sky's down, and it landed with a loud thud on the ground in front of my own. Brandon and I kept our dragons calm as Riven and Sky continued battling each other with their dragons. I turned to see Cordatorta run down the bleachers from where he sat with Saladin and the other two heads of the other schools in Magix, and he jumped on the head of my dragon. I did not question anything he was about to do, because the situation was getting out of hand. By this time the two dragons retreated to the ground, and our instructor rode my dragon toward them taking out a whip and unravelling it. He swung it a couple times in between the dragons, just to snap them out of Riven and Sky's command, for it wasn't just hand motions that helped us communicate with the dragons, it was also mind control, we had to focus on them and tell them what we wanted them to do in order for the technique to work.

"Nice dragons, back!" Cordatorta ordered them, "Be good!" Once the two dragons backed away and stood obediently next to Brandon's dragon, it seemed that all was in order again as Cordatorta put away his whip, when the ground begin to crack a short distance away, and we turned to see what was happening. Dust collected from the opening cracks, but when it died down, we could see Bloom and who I assumed must be Princess Diaspro, flying above the stadium.

"So, have you had enough?" Bloom was asking the princess. They must have been in a fight for a while already, because the tension was clear between the two fairies.

"No, have you?" Diaspro shot back as magic blasted from the gems surrounding her. I had no idea what was going on, but I could imagine Bloom was going to find out Sky's big secret, and it was going to get very ugly. Bloom shielded herself from the attack, and once it was over, she had an attack of her own to fire at Diaspro, and it completely destroyed the gems she was using.

"Goodness, this girl is nuts!" Diaspro yelled before Bloom shot her from the sky, and she fell to the ground. In an instant reaction, Sky ran to help her. This was it, this was the moment when Bloom was going to know the truth. I just wished for Sky.., and Bloom's sake that it didn't have to happen this way.

"Brandon?" I could hear Bloom ask from the air as she hovered in place, her expression as far as I could tell was full of confusion.

"Oh, Sky!" Diaspro cried out, getting up and grasping him for support.

"Brandon?" Bloom asked again, this time louder.

"What do you mean Brandon?" Diaspro shouted at Bloom, "This is Sky, Prince of Eraklyon, successor to the throne, and my future husband! Now I-"

"Hey wait, Bloom, I.., I…" I could tell Sky was definitely hurt by having Bloom find out this way, he didn't know what to say to her. Bloom just lowered herself to the ground and fell to her knees.

 **Tecna's Point of View**

The rest of the Winx and I just witnessed one of the most confusing things ever, Brandon was actually Prince Sky of Eraklyon, not only that, but Bloom was going to get us all caught, again! Despite everything I just saw, I felt bad that Bloom had to find out the way she did, and I could see the entire scene unfold from the back of Musa's left pigtail.

"My turn!" I shouted.

"Move!" Musa shot back, grasping my arm, and I tried not to groan in pain.

"Hey!" I yelled.

"Let me see!" Flora chimed in.

"Enough already!" Stella shouted over the rest of us, "I'm watching the show now." Though, we all managed to huddle together to see what was going on.

"Bloom!" I heard Sky shout.

"Squire!" Then I heard another voice shout from a distance, it had to be the King of Eraklyon, ordering Sky's squire over to him, and who we all thought was the prince, was actually his squire. Brandon, ran toward where he sat and bowed on his right knee.

"My lord!" He answered the king as Stella's eyes widened at the shocking sight before her, I guess it just goes to show that the one you think you've fallen in love with may not be who you think he is.

"Hey!" Stella shouted with an irritated groan, gritting her teeth furiously.

"Where were you when my son needed help?" The king questioned Brandon, "You have neglected his safety! You incompetent.., I take my leave of you!" And then, the king and his guards left with disapproval. Bloom continued to looked as confused and distraught as ever, and just when things couldn't get any worse, Ms Faragonda came walking seriously down the stairs toward Bloom, once she reached her, she gave her a very disappointed look.

"What is the meaning of this Bloom?" She asked.

"I just wanted to talk to Brandon... uh, Sky, and I thought that-" Bloom began before MsFaragonda cut her off.

"We'll talk about this when we get back to Alfea," She told Bloom sternly, "did you get your friends into this too?" Bloom, I hope you don't blow our cover.

"No, I didn't." Bloom lied, standing up and following Alfea's headmistress out.

"I think we better go." Stella whispered, so then we walked back toward the door that we entered Red Fountain, and before we opened the door. Stella's cellphone rang. It was a text from Bloom. "Bloom says Faragonda is taking her back to Alfea on the main road, we can sneak back through the forest." She informed us quietly as nodded in response and ran out the side door.

* * *

Once we finally returned to the dorm, Bloom hadn't returned from Ms Faragonda's office, so we were grateful for not being caught. Although it only took minutes after we got in before Bloom opened the door to our dorm, and she looked very upset.

"Thanks for not ratting us out, Bloom." Stella replied quietly.

"No problem," Bloom told her softly, "I've done enough damage anyway." And with that statement, she went to the room she shared with Flora in complete silence. The girls looked at each other with expressions of concern on our faces.

"I think we should just leave Bloom alone for now, I'll check up on her later." Flora suggested, and I turned toward Stella who was still fuming, and ready to take out her cellphone to call the real Brandon.

"Well, ladies, I have a very serious bone to pick with a certain _squire_ Brandon of Eraklyon!" She screamed, "And if he so much as comes near me again, he'll get his entire body sunburnt!"

"Don't be too hard on him, Stella, after all, he was doing his duty." Flora reminded her.

"A relationship is about trust, Flora," the Princess of Solaria continued to yell, "He lied to me about who he was, he misled me! And worst of all he's not the richest royal in the Magical Dimension!"

"That's what you're taking from this, you fell in love with a normal guy and not a prince?" Musa pointed out sarcastically.

"Screw you, Musa!" Just then, the door to the princess's suite slammed shut. Now was the time for me to continue doing that assignment, but before I went back to the room I shared with the music loving fairy, I turned to her.

"This is what happens when I leave my room, I get myself involved in situations that have nothing to do with me and that I have no business knowing about." I told her, not sharply, but firmly, "All of this is between Stella, Brandon, Sky and Bloom, and If she didn't sneak into the exhibition, this wouldn't have happened."

"But she would have to find out eventually," Musa whispered, careful not to let either Bloom or Stella hear the conversation, "Would you rather have her find out now or later when the whole Magical Dimension announces Sky and Disapro's wedding?"

"I honestly have no comment." I stated simply, "I don't want to get anymore involved than this."

* * *

About fifteen minutes later, I was in my bedroom trying to block out the sound of Stella shouting at Sky, or Brandon, on the phone from her own bedroom. She was yelling out profanity that I dared not repeat, but she had every right if she was as mad at him as she expressed earlier.

"Damn, Stella sure is pissed." Musa commented, "Do you want to borrow my noise cancelling headphones, I have a spare."

"Thanks," I got up from my desk to grab the extra pair she offered me, "I feel bad for Flora though, I can imagine all this language is making her very uncomfortable."

"She knew things were going to get heated, so I think she decided to take a walk in Alfea's gardens." The music fairy informed me.

"That was smart thinking." I thought, finally blocking out the sound of Stella's screaming and swearing at Brandon with the earphones, and I was at peace too. Once again I placed my hands on the surface of my keyboard, and closed my eyes. Once more I become one with my technology, taking in the world of logic and programming code that it presented me with. It was almost like a form of meditation for me, and it relaxed me, just as it did the first time. Pretty soon an hour passed before I knew it, and I felt my shoulders being shaken by Musa.

"Tecna, Tecna, did you fall asleep or something?" I was still in a daze from being surrounded by technology, and it took a minute to return to the real world.

"N.., no, I was just..," I didn't know what to tell Musa, during the past week, I found myself doing this more and more. At first I used it to calm me down, but now I realize that I might be relying too much on it.

"Tecna, I want you to look at me straight in the eye and tell me the truth." She pressed, "have you been abusing your power source? Ms. Faragonda warns us about using our power sources as a calming and coping mechanism, and it can get very addictive." I stared into her dark blue eyes that were full of concern, and sighed.

"I guess I have been abusing my power source, if that's what I've been doing for the past week." I confessed, "I forgot that it might actually become addictive, but it does feel good. It makes me feel like I'm in control again and I can think logically, I'm used to that. I'm used to being alone, surrounded by electronics, I'm secure that way."

"Are you.., homesick?" Oblivion no, I'm not homesick, not for Tonson, not for the injections, not the pain and agony afterwards. I'm not homesick for being a science experiment potentially gone wrong!

"No, everything here in Magix just takes some getting used to." I fibbed, "it's a lot different than on Zenith."

"Well, just promise me something," my roommate continued softly, "I don't want to catch you abusing your power source like this anymore, or I will bring you to the headmistress. It's for your own good. And I will promise not to speak a word about this to the other girls, okay."

"Very well," I heaved a deep sigh, realizing that I got so caught up with being consumed with my power abuse that I didn't get any of my homework done. Though, with Musa watching my every move, there were no excuses now. Later on that night, from what I knew, Bloom was on the balcony looking at the moon, and the rest of us couldn't figure what to make of the situation. I just hoped that everything was going to be okay with Bloom, she seemed almost depressed, the one thing she was sure about through all the questions about her past, besides us, was an unclear image. I wonder if Timmy knew about Sky and Brandon's secret, I had a feeling he did, but I wasn't going to yell at him for it, because he had nothing to do with what happened today. Not like Sky... I mean Brandon, who misled Stella into thinking he was the richest prince in the Magical Dimension. This was a little confusing now and I think that is why Bloom and Stella are so angry and unhappy. My biggest concern though is for Bloom, will she be able okay now that she knows the truth?

 **Timmy's Point of View**

Brandon excused himself to the hallway to get quite the earful from the Princess of Solaria, just as I expected he would. Though what was surprising to me was that none of the other Winx were with Bloom today. Knowing Bloom, I would be sure she would have persuaded the girls to come with her somehow, but I suppose not. Bloom must have told Stella everything she saw today, and that's how she found out now. Within about an hour, the brunette returned from the hallway with his cellphone clasped in his hand and slumped down on his bed, defeated.

"Well, it's official, Stella broke up with me, she hates me big time for this." He sighed, "She even threatened to get her father involved, and believe me, you do not want to get on King Radius's bad list, especially if you lie to his daughter."

"Where's Sky?" I asked hesitantly.

"He had a huge discussion with his parents about this whole thing and now I don't think he can even face Bloom again. They even considered taking us both back to Eraklyon. Though I haven't heard anything from him yet, so I think he managed to convince them to let us stay here somehow."

"I don't see how, things have gotten pretty screwed up." I pointed out sadly, "I mean, the whole thing with Diaspro and Bloom, there's no way Sky's parents are going to let him stay here If they know that Bloom is just a commoner, who the Prince of Eraklyon has fallen in love with."

"Don't you think I'm aware of that?" Brandon raised his voice slightly, causing me to flinch in surprise, "Sorry, but if Sky goes back, then I have to as well. The king is going to force Sky to marry Diaspro in order to keep the royal bloodline going. You know."

"Yeah, I know." Suddenly, Sky returned to our shared dorm room, heaving a huge sigh of relief.

"So, what's the word?" Brandon asked his best friend.

"I managed to get my parents to let us stay here until the end of the school year." Sky informed us both, "At least then I have some time to try to clear the air with Bloom."

"Hopefully she's not as pissed off as Stella is at me. She dumped me, man." Brandon confessed.

"Damn, that's crappy." Sky just sat on the bed next to him and looked at me for a brief moment, I was still sitting at my desk.

"And so, what about Princess bitch Diaspro?" Brandon snorted, obviously they had a long history with her and knew a lot more about her than I did, so I said nothing.

"Brandon, be nice." Sky laughed, he just couldn't say that with a straight face, pretty soon he was practically on the floor, after he collected himself, he answered his question, "I still have no feelings for her whatsoever, but unfortunately I have to tell Bloom that it's against royal laws for princes to even be seen in a relationship with anyone beneath them, as much as I love her."

"I wish the girls didn't have to find out." Brandon sighed once more, still lying over his bed and Sky still beside him. I knew that Tecna and I were in the same boat with this situation, being pulled into it by our friends one way or the other. Did this whole thing with Brandon and Sky jeopardize my chances of being able to see her again, will Bloom and Stella even let us go near them anymore? This might throw a wrench into my mission to protect Tecna after all, which I originally thought it would not be such a big deal.


End file.
